The Saga of Luminosity
by TFGirl
Summary: The Future of Cybertron. It is a time of fragile peace for the colonies of Praxis, Polyhex and Metrocon. Unbeknownst to them there is a devil lurking within their long forgotten history. However with great darkness brings about the birth of light.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: **hello there fellow Transformers Fans! I would like to introduce to you my very first story on Fan ! I am some what new to submitting my own writing on this site. However, I have been an avid reader of many great fictions here for years. Mainly in relation to the Transformers fandom! One of my absolute favorites is "Tinman" by Leah Wood aka Fire Redhead. If you have yet to read it I greatly recommend the story and its Audio over at AudioFanfic! I would also like to give Leah a big thanks for assisting me in my own as my Beta Reader and for feeding my bunnies hehe. ;)

On that note I like to explain to you a bit on what my story is about. The setting takes place in a very distant future of Cybertron where 3 great colonies made up of the decendants of the Autobots and Decepticon ancestors have returned to rebuild a destroyed and deserted Cybertron. Much of their history has been buried or destroyed all they know is that the wars have ended for some reason or another. They have rebuilt to a certain extent in a fragile peace but life is still tough. I so link my story to many classic G1 and comic references to tie it in with the past however it probably is best to look at this world as an original universe of the transformers based loosely around Generation 1 and comic book mythology.

The main character in my story is Lutrex, a young mech who later struggles to understand his purpose in life. Those of you who follow my artwork on Deviantart will know him by his nick name Laserbot. This story in its essence is his tale starting from the his very beginning, however through his optics you will come to know a cast of diverse original characters whos dynamics and intereactions with eachother you may relate to certian cannon characters quite easily. :)

There will be fluff, there will be drama, there will be action, and there will be mystery. It's now up to you if you like to stick around for the ride hehe. ;) I will also be posting up pictures and character sheets of these fan characters on my Deviantart account if any of you are interested in seeing what these fellas look like. I hope those who decided to give my story a chance do so enjoy! And I thank you for taking the time out of your day to read it! I sincerely look forward to your critic! ;)

**The Saga of Luminosity **

**By **

**Rachel Macari**

**Edited By**

**Fire Redhead**

**Chapter 1 Dawn**

A blazing comet streaks across the heavens, its destination unclear and its journey never-ending. Like countless times before it drifts by another celestial body, its inanimate form ablaze, unable to gaze upon the other's presence below.

If it were to see, it would have observed that this planet was unique from countless others. The planet's stark and uneven landscapes glimmering and reflecting the light of the comet's stellar passing. Its scarred surfaces covered in a metallic crust long ago destroyed and time and again rebuilt. The planet is ever-changing and transforming, much like the unique life forms that exist within its atmospheric embrace below.

The comet is only seen by a few as it passes the planet and continues on its journey. Its mindless, gaseous body unaware that the planet beneath possesses a name—Cybertron.

Under the black night sky, lights shimmer and dot the planet like fireflies. However the patterns of the glow seem to clump together, forming clusters and sections, suggesting that the planet's inhabitants are separated and captive to three great colonies. It is, however, on this night, that a few curious fireflies have ventured forth from their great cities, their trail marked by dimly glowing lights made feeble against the boundaries of neon brilliance.

It is apparent they are on a journey as they move down between giant chasms that would dwarf even Earth's Grand Canyon walls. Moving at a steady pace, growing ever brighter against the shrouded depths and the steadily shrinking horizon above, they travel deeper into the abyss. A deep rumbling stirs centuries old dust from its resting place and the signs of unpolished and scarred metal are revealed. The vibrations continue to grow in strength and volume as the lights flicker closer. The lights become shrouded from view for a brief moment as they round a corner following a trail along the cliffs walls.

Suddenly, they appear once more, brighter then ever and accompanied by the roar of machinery! The convoy is revealed out of the darkness of night. Mechanical vehicles roll across the narrow path of a cliff outcropping, the sounds of crunching debris from giant, armored treads echoing across the canyon walls. The lights from each unite, casting an eerie shadow easily three times as big as the behemoths themselves.

"Hey Tungsten! Did you see that!" The one possessing an angular form adorned with drills and saws calls out.

"See what lad?" the other responds with a hint of amusement, his larger frame working to stay steady as he climbs down a steep decline.

"That comet, up above... aw now it's gone! Well Did ya see it?!" the other replied with a hint of excitement in his vocalizer.

The other Mech seemed to be rather preoccupied as his treads dug into the ground below, leveled out, and cleared the steep decline.

"No I did not… For the last time, get your head outta the stars, Razorgear. You should be focused on where your rolling. These canyons aren't as forgiving as I." Tungsten replied with a huff of smoke from his two exhaust pipes.

"Aw, come on! I've told you Polyhex lights make it hard to see the stars. I wana see them while I still can!" The younger Razorgear exclaimed.

Suddenly the bladed mech surged forward, causing some of the metal scrap beneath his tires to shift and cause a scrap-slide that buried part of another mech just ahead of him.

"GAHH!! Look what you did now! That's exactly what Tungsten is talking about! Now I have to transform just to get outta this heap of scrap!" the mech covered in debris shouted.

"O… oops…" the younger mech replied sheepishly.

" 'OOPS' is all you can say! Nggh, get offa me!" the smaller mech shouted angrily in reply, his frame not as heavily armored as the other two.

There was the sound of shifting panels and two large thuds as a much larger mech at the very back of the line transformed and walked over to find out what the hold up was.

"Cool your circuits Repatch, I'll get you out. Kid, transform and do what the Doc says." the giant mech replied in a deep, gravelly baritone.

"I _got it_ the first time Ironcrusher! Err, sorry Patch. I didn't mean to…" he trailed off as he got off of the pile that was covering the smaller mech.

With that, Ironcrusher began to clear the rubble, scooping it up in both his gigantic hands and removing it from Repatch.

" Ahh…thank you Ironcrusher." the smaller med bot transformed dusting off his frame.

After he was satisfied with clearing his frame of debris he turned on the younger, but much larger Razorgear.

"And as for you! You either listen to Tungsten or I'm not going to pick out those irritating sacramental shavings out of your circuitry next time they get caught in your drill! I mean, honestly! The guy is here to make sure we live through this pit of an excavation. At _least_ follow what he says!" he ranted before transforming back into his vehicle mode and moving back into the line up.

"Cut the kid a break. You've all been slipping and sliding on the scrap metal for over one hundred breems now." a voice came from the air above.

"Hurmph! Easy for you to say Bladewing, you're not in it 'Mr. Pair of Wings'." Repatch argued.

"Enough all of you, please," the reply coming from the smallest mech of them all, following just behind Tungsten, "We're almost to the camp dig site. The sooner we get there the sooner we can rest our wheels. Primus, we'll need it come sunrise."

"Gearbox is right, we're almost there. No sense in stopping to bicker." Tungsten replied evenly, his temperament having not changed despite the exchange.

"Heh, yeah, _he_ is the real processor of this outfit after all." Ironcrusher chuckled while transforming back into his own colossal alternate form and reattaching to the large trailer he had been pulling.

"Yeah I said I was sorry, geesh! Can we hurry it up already!? Wait… HEY! Iron what's that supposed to mean anyways?" Razorgear huffed annoyed.

"Hahaha!" Ironcrusher only laughed in reply, the sound accompanied by the crunch of metal and the others' sighs of disgruntlement as the group continued on its way.

…

Just as Gearbox had predicted, daylight had broken and the team was up from a short recharge making preparations for the excavation of that day.

"Uhhg remind me why I do this every solar cycle?" Repatch stretched his gears, each one creaking from the last cycle's travel.

"Because you care about us?" Ironcrusher smiled cheerfully.

"Don't flatter yourself. Hurmph, the creds are much more appealing." Repatch looked out to see the others readying equipment by the dig site.

"You remind me of someone I read about." Ironcrusher mused as he watched the glowing orb in the sky rise steadily, casting beams out over the metallic grey landscape and reflecting in random directions.

"You always relate mechs to those mythological mumbo jumbo stories that you read…" Repatch replied waving a hand to dismiss the other's comment.

"Heh! The funny thing is, his name started with an R just like yours and he was a great healer." Ironcrusher looked back down at the smaller mech from his towering view, "Perhaps you two are related somehow?"

"Aren't you supposed to be helping the others with preparations?" Repatch grumbled unamused he didn't known who Crusher was talking about.

Not that he really cared.

"Heh. Don't worry. The berths will seem softer as you get used to them." Ironcrusher replied, lightly patting Repatch on the back before walking off to meet with the others.

"Ouff! Bumbl'n glitch, how can he always be so positive?" Repatch grumbled to himself before stretching his gears one last time. "Welp, better get the med bay ready. Primus knows what they're gonna get themselves into this time!" Repatch thought to himself rolling his optics.

Ironcrusher made his way to the others. He observed Razorgear preparing their tools for the digging that day while, Tungsten was busy lifting heavy beams and scrap out of the entrance to the old Energon mine shaft. Last time they had been to this site they had discovered the mine while digging their own route. They had found it still relatively stable to use other than a few reinforcements at a few unstable points. From then on the group set up HQ at its entrance and utilized it as a launching point to dig out more tunnels in search of buried ancient citadels and artifacts.

"Oh There you are Ironcrusher. I've been looking for you."

Ironcrusher looked down to see Gearbox looking up at him holding a holo-data card in his smaller delicate hand.

"Good solar cycle Gearbox what is it you need me for?" Ironcrusher smiled looking down.

He was looking forward to getting back to duty. Gearbox optics took on a amused glint.

He smiled slightly, refreshed by Crush's positive demeanor, "Indeed! I have a good feeling about today Ironcrusher! I need you to take over for Tungsten in removing the barricades from the entrance so he can direct his efforts toward mixing some stronger bonding agents to stabilize the deeper tunnels."

"Huh I thought we sealed those tunnels up good last time?" Ironcrusher shrugged. "Heh. Ah well not a problem Gear. You know I like working my hydraulics in the morning heh!"

Ironcrusher gave a quick nod before walking off to go relieve Tungsten of the heavy-duty work. Gearbox looked back down at the data on the holo-disk as it displayed the data picked up by the underground scanners they had installed last time. It flickered and changed rapidly, Gearbox's quick processor comprehending and absorbing the information as it flew by in a blur.

"Ah, Cybertron, what new discoveries do you hold for us to find today?" Gearbox thought to himself.

It had been too long since he and the others had been able to get out to this excavation site. After their last excavation the group had returned only to find that they had been drafted into searching for Energon deposits in another scrap metal desert in the other hemisphere of the planet. Apparently, if they had the resources to go out and search for historic treasures they had the resources to mine Energon for the greater good of the Metrocon colony.

Though Gearbox understood the politics and the importance of the draft system set in place for recovering energy and other resources, it had come at a rather inconvenient time for them. They had been scheduled to return to this location around that timeframe and as a result were forced to push the date to a later time; despite the fact that they had been close to discovering something big.

Gearbox was suddenly startled from his thoughts as a beeping came from his hand held device. It beeped and displayed a red flashing warning in Cybertronian.

"Oh no…" Gearbox sighed in disgruntlement.

…

"This is sooo boring…" Razorgear sighed aloud, crossing his arms and leaning against the side of the now cleared entrance. "Are you done with the mixture yet Tungsten!" Razorgear grumbled, showing the extent of his patience.

"Not yet Kid the molecules haven't bonded to each other yet. That will take a few more clicks."

" Hurmph! The sooner you're done, the sooner we can get in there and start digging and constructing the last stretch to that cavern!"

"If the cavern is in fact a cavern. The interference from residual radiation can trick the scanners you know. It's better we take our time and play it safe instead of rushing in with our drills spinning." Tungsten replied as he sat in his alt form.

His systems were working on the bonding mixture within the tanks on his back.

"Yeah, not to mention there's volatile, raw Energon crystals down there. You don't want to accidentally tunnel into one of those deposits and cave the whole place in." Ironcrusher chipped in.

"Unfortunately, that may have already happened." Gearbox walked up to the others overhearing their conversation.

"What has happened?" Tungsten sounded concerned.

"The scanners read that there has been some displacement in the crust. The tunnels and most likely a few of the caverns we plotted before have collapsed." Gearbox explained.

Razorgear stood up, "What! But how? Last time all our readings said this place was stable! Energon crystals or not, there was nothing down there to set them off!"

"That's true. However, the strange thing is that the readings indicate that there are no longer any Energon crystals within a mile of this region. It's like they all suddenly disappeared." Gearbox rambled on confused and intrigued by the new information, despite being concerned about the overall situation.

"It's not like we could have used that energy source. It's too unstable to harvest with current technology. But it's concerning that it would all suddenly disappear out of nowhere." Gearbox replied as he clicked and went through data on the disks screen.

"Isn't that a good thing though? Now we can dig without worrying about running into those crystals and the interference to our scanners should be gone." Ironcrusher Assessed.

"You would think so… but there is some sort of field hampering the scanners. In fact, it's fluctuated. It's different than the radiation before. Gearbox answered looking back up to the others, "As far as the crystals being gone, that's actually the cause for the problem."

"The layers that make up Cybertron's crust are unstable in this region now. With so much of its structure gone it's more prone to quakes. It seems that our tunnels have held back most of the collapse though…at least for the time being, which is a good sign. That is thanks to Tungsten's bonding agents and Razorgear's engineering." Gearbox explained.

"Hah! That just goes to show the quality of my work!" Razorgear rubbed his nose smugly.

Tungsten remained quiet in his alternate mode, the others couldn't see the roll of his optics.

"So what should we do now?" Ironcrusher looked to Gearbox.

"The evidence I have recovered from previous missions suggests this site was a major historic landmark; highly important during Cybertrons past." Gearbox paused. "Though, under the circumstances, I would suggest for all your safety we leave this site and move on. The risks are rather high." Gearbox sighed giving in to the inevitable.

Tungsten transformed looking to the others, "Humph, I would hate to see such a rich resource go to waste… wouldn't you all agree?"

"Yeah! I mean, we came all this way and I still want to study the structures the ancients made. It's not like I need to, I'm just curious." Razorgear stated in agreement.

"It would be a shame to have come this far and give up now." Ironcrusher commented.

"Yeah, that, and my bonding agents are finished mixing so I have to use them on something." Tungsten crossed his arms and walked over to Gearbox putting a hand on his shoulder. "What about you Boss? You're not going to give up yet are you? We can't do this without that processor of yours."

Gearbox looked to each of them, pleasantly surprised by their unanimous agreement to keep going despite the risks, "No…no! If you're all willing to take that risk so am I! Statistics be slagged."

Gearbox chuckled a little at his attempt to speak the other gruff bot's term. He wasn't much for speaking slang. The others laughed in response and headed for the tunnel's entrance. Transforming they all began to roll forward into the tunnel.

"Wait I need to come with you this time!" Gearbox exclaimed causing the others to stop in their tracks.

"What do you mean? You can't go down there. It's still too dangerous for you to accompany us!" Tungsten exclaimed, his normal demeanor shocked into outburst from the absurdity of Gearbox's request.

Gearbox's response was to transform and pull up behind him.

"Yeah, no offense Gear, but you aren't built for this." Razorgear uttered.

"Normally you don't come down till the site has been stabilized. Why are you changing the procedure?" Ironcrusher commented more confused than upset.

"Several of the scanners have been damaged and need to be recovered and repaired in the incomplete tunnel to the underground citadel. I'm the only one besides Repatch who can repair and reset them for you onsite." Gearbox replied evenly.

"Why don't you just let us recover them and bring them back up to a more stable area for Repatch to fix? Then we can relocate them below." Ironcrusher paused "Not to mention you could just talk us through it too." Ironcrusher reasoned.

"I thought of that too Ironcrusher. The problem is this new interference is making it hard to even pick up the data from the scanners on my receiver. I wouldn't be able to tell you how to fix them. I must inspect them. I also suspect our communicators would not function clearly at such depths, as they would be fully enveloped in the energy fluctuations coming from that area."

"Oh… I see…" Ironcrusher replied understanding.

Razorgear laughed, "Besides, Primus knows Repatch never set foot down there. He's totally claustrophobic, not to mention if he knew what we were doing he'd wrench us all good."

"No, he's right. They are _our_ markers. If we move them we could slag everything up. Without their signals we risk getting lost down there. Not to mention we'll be digging blind without any clue as to what materials or chasms lay beyond that point. Our sensors can't extend as far without the boost from their signals. And with the cave-ins we have even less of them to rely on." Tungsten grumbled despite not wanting to agree with risking the smaller, lighter framed mech.

Gearbox revved his engine a bit and did a systems check, as they began to travel down into the tunnel entrance. It had been a while since he had driven underground and he wanted to be ready for anything.

"It would be better for me to accompany you all down. The signals from the scanners will be stronger as we near them. My receiver can locate them faster then if you were all to search with your own receptors.. AH Ouf!" Gearbox explained but suddenly hit a particularly steep bump and skidded forward bumping into the back of Tungsten.

"Be careful Boss, it's steep. Break with your back wheels to avoid flipping over." Tungsten stated always looking out for the others.

"Th-thank you Tungsten I'll take that advice." Gearbox sighed just glad that the larger mech had been there to break his tumble.

Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all?

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 Fracture**

Sparks splashed across the dark, reflective surfaces of the tunnel walls. Each glimmer seeming to jump and play with the other, its brief life coming to an abrupt end as it disappeared back into darkness once more.

Gearbox hummed as he worked to weld and mend a panel back in place on the last scanner.

"This is taking forever! How many more are there after this?" Razorgear complained.

"This is the last one then we should be able to see what lies beyond our last ended drill point." Gearbox replied working with steady hands.

"Today's the day we find that underground Citadel. I can feel it in my circuits!" Ironcrusher pounded his two fists together with a clank.

"Heh. I don't believe we will find an entire Citadel, but we're most likely set on finding a part of what's left of one. That is… if my theory of it being an Autobot chamber is correct." Gearbox admitted.

He paused, his arm shifting from a welder back into his hand. Reaching down, Gearbox activated a side panel and waited a moment. The unit beeped and came back to life, readings flickering on its own screen before it withdrew back into a protective compartment inside the scanner.

"Ah, there we go! It's working!" Gearbox observed the readings on his holo-reader, "Hurm… Well it does indeed appear to be a rather large chamber just like we suspected before, but it still could be anything really."

Razorgear transformed and moved into position his drills humming as they began to spin in preparation of the dig ahead of them, "Welp, let's FINALLY pick up where we left off the last time we were here!"

Ironcrusher stood tall; the tunnel being constructed large enough he could stand without having to duck his head or crouch, "At least we don't have to pick our way through anymore cave-ins. We can start extending the tunnel now. With any luck we can drill and connect this tunnel to the Chamber by the end of this solar cycle."

"If we do that all today, the high grade is on me when we get back to Metrocon." Tungsten replied a little doubtful but all the same true to his word.

"Whoooohoo! Watch and be amazed Tungsten!!" Razorgear shouted over the whine of his engine and grind of his drills as they began to split the rusty scraps that made up the crust.

Gearbox stood up and backed away to stand near Ironcrusher, leaving the scanner secured.

"Nothing like a little motivation right? Haha!" Ironcrusher laughed at the younger mechs enthusiasm for a little high-grade.

"Mehh. He just likes to show off. He's young, I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't had high-grade before." Tungsten huffed, a little less amused but still teasing the kid.

"I heard that!" Razorgear shouted down from his newly dug tunnel.

"He may be young and rough around the edges, but he's definitely enthusiastic and dedicated… It's why I hired him." Gearbox whispered to the others with a chuckle.

They all laughed before Ironcrusher saw it was his cue to begin widening the tunnel. He moved forward to begin the demolition. However, as he stepped forward he suddenly lost his balance and gripped the side of the tunnel walls.

"What was that?" Tungsten was also gripping the side of the wall.

"Ack!" Gearbox shouted suddenly as he lost his footing and slid down the tunnel, skidding to a stop half-way to where Razorgear was digging.

"It was a tremor!! Razorgear stop drilling!!" Tungsten shouted.

Immediately the younger mech stopped and transformed running back to where the others were, "What is it? What happened?!"

He emerged looking surprised and concerned.

"Your drilling is causing tremors!! You need to tone it down! You're drilling too fast in an unstable area! Look what you did!" Tungsten reprimanded in return pointing to Gearbox.

"Slag! There was a tremor? But… but I wasn't Tungsten! After you all were giving me a hard time I backed off! Besides, I'm more precise than that when it comes to my drilling, I swear!" Razorgear replied a little outraged, but frantic as he looked down to see Gearbox clutching at his leg.

It had been dented and scraped just above his foot from his fall.

"Oh slag Gearbox are you all right!?" Razorgear was about to bend down to help him when another tremor shook, causing him to fall backwards into his freshly made tunnel, "OUFF! Okay THAT was NOT me!"

Razorgear struggled to get up as the shaking only increased around them. Suddenly a ominous crack began to form and grow along the ground. Its menacing fingers stretching out ever closer to where Gearbox lay.

Tungsten turned to Ironcrusher. "Give me yer servo and hold onto that wall Crush! I gotta get to Gearbox before that crack does!" Tungsten shouted over the rumble of the quake.

For his part Gearbox was doing his best to hold onto the nearby scrap extruding from the ground as the quake tossed him about.

"Hold on Gearbox!" Tungsten shouted just as rubble began to crumble around them and fall in heaps.

For the larger bots this wasn't anything new to them and Tungsten's bonding agent would keep the majority of the scrap from caving in on them. But to Gearbox these were scraps of metal that could crush and bury him alive!

Tungsten leaned down doing his best not to fall as he held onto Ironcrusher's hand for stability.

"Reach out! Grab my hand!" Tungsten reached for Gearbox.

"I'm trying!" Gearbox reached out but every time he got close the ground shook him causing him to fall back down.

Just as the crack was about to reach Gearbox, the quake suddenly subsided and stopped. After a few more moments went by Tungsten expelled a huff of air from his vents in relief.

"Well that was absolutely terrifying." Gearbox sighed still clutching to the scrap.

Tungsten laughed lightly at Gearbox response.

"Ack I'm ok! I'm ok!! You guys ok?" Razorgear crawled out from the tunnel sighing.

"Come on, let's get you out of this tunnel and back to the surface where you belong." Tungsten reached down again.

"Yes I think that would be a good idea. Though I'm not looking forward to what will promise to be an enlightening experience into my own stupidity from Repatch." Gearbox replied a little shaken but attempting to laugh it off like the others.

"He's definitely gonna spew some colorful dialect." Ironcrusher replied but was interrupted by a loud crack!

The ominous sound echoed across the tunnel walls and everyone froze. No mech had time to react. The crack spread and splintered around Gearbox. The ground below shifted until it gave way in one final collapse!

"GAHH!!" Gearbox screamed as he fell.

"GEARBOX!" all three of the others shouted.

Tungsten reached out to try to grab for Gearbox but to no avail. The motion almost caused Tungsten to follow Gearbox into the black abyss below.

"GAHHRRRG! Tungsten! We're slipping! G-gotta pull you back!" Ironcrusher held onto Tungsten's hand, pulling him back to safety.

A few moments went by as Tungsten kneeled before the crevice. They all looked down into the chasm, shocked and unable to speak at what just happened.

"SLAG IT!!" Tungsten slammed his fist into the ground, his disturbed call drifting into the depths below.

To Be Continued...

(i know im evil for leaving you hanging, i promice I'll update very soon!)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 Supernova**

The world was black, and silent, much like the void. Gearbox could sense nothing at all. Laying motionless and disoriented his systems began to come back online. The first thing he registered was the pain. Its stinging sensations seeming to hold him in a harsh embrace, causing him to jerk back into the waking world.

"Uhhhg…" Gearbox groaned and pushed himself off the ground.

He flinched with each movement and leaned against a scrap pile that had fallen just beside him. The next thing that registered in his head came as a shock… he had survived.

How he had been spared the crushing force of the fall he didn't care to speculate. All that mattered now was finding his way out of this mess. He was tempted to just sit and rest his sore and banged up systems. No doubt the others would be searching for him. But there was something that didn't set right with him.

Looking up, Gearbox could see that there was a solid cavern wall above his head. He shifted his view to look behind himself, discovering that, somehow, when he'd fallen the debris had compacted on the way down into a narrow passageway. Somehow he made it in one piece while being forced into this smaller room. Of course that meant he was sealed off from the others.

"This is not good…" Gearbox murmured clutching at his damaged leg.

He looked himself over finding most of his damage to be superficial dents and a few deeper gouges in his underlying circuitry. The pain from those stung the worst, but the damage to his leg was the most concerning. The gash had disrupted several of the motor-functions in his leg and foot as well as broken a couple fuel lines. Energon was seeping from the wound and he knew he would need to do something about that quickly, lest risk getting rusted scrap into his system. He would have to do a temporary patch on the damaged junctions and melt the energon lines shut himself. Shifting his arm back into a welding torch Gearbox reached with his other hand to grab a piece of scrap metal. Bringing the piece to his mouth, Gearbox hesitantly bit down on the foul tasting metal preparing himself for what lay ahead. Sparks danced to life within the tunnel, this time their bright flashes synchronized to the music of pained screams.

…

"H-he's gone! No! He's gone!" Razorgear was frantic clutching at his head. "It's all my fault I shouldn't have drilled!" he cried out from across the other side of the chasm.

"Get a hold of yourself, KID!" Tungsten called back.

"It's not your fault Razor. We all knew this might happen. Now we need to stay calm and find him!" Ironcrusher responded not wanting to let the younger blame himself. Ironcrusher turned to the elder mech, "Tungsten what should we do?"

Tungsten looked down into the blackness as he thought.

Suddenly his head shot up looking to Razorgear. "Kid, listen to me! You need to keep drilling that tunnel to the chamber!"

The others looked at him with disbelief.

"But what about the quakes!" Razorgear protested.

"It was going to happen here whether we drilled or not. I can see that from the remnants in the layered crust. This was an emptied crystal cave below us. We haven't plotted any more of them within this area." Tungsten answered.

"But why keep drilling? Shouldn't we find a way to get into that chasm and find Gearbox?" Ironcrusher questioned him.

"No, it's too dangerous. The scrap is going to be unevenly compacted. We could get buried down there. I have a hunch that the cavern below may be connected to the chamber we are digging for." he reasoned. "If we get to it we can double-back faster using the natural tunnels and start searching for him in that cavern."

Tungsten paused reading the info from the scanner that gearbox had fixed just moments ago.

"There's a chance the air pressure generated by the shift may have forced him into one of those tunnels that branches off from that cavern." Tungsten continued.

"He's a light enough frame I wouldn't be surprised." Ironcrusher agreed.

"All right! What about you guys though!? How are you going to get across?!" Razorgear asked worried.

"We're not…"

Both Ironcrusher and Razorgear looked confused.

"Both of us r' too big anyways. We'd slow down the search. You're going to have to find him kid. It's up to you." the older mech stated seriously.

Ironcrusher looked at Tungsten with surprise. Usually the older mech would take matters into his own hands, but here he was entrusting the job to another.

"We're going to work on clearing a way to the surface for when you bring him back to us. No doubt there's gonna be more cave-ins further in the tunnels from that quake. We will need to get him up to the surface ASAP to Repatch." Tungsten answered, staring at the other younger mech.

"W-wait! I can't do this by myself!! What if I can't find him? What if I screw up?" Razorgear shouted frantic again.

"You wont! You say you do your job perfectly, remember?" Tungsten shouted interrupting the younger mechs whimpering. He then continued in a softer but serious tone. "Besides…we're counting on you. _He's_ counting on you! You wouldn't want to disappoint the Boss. After all, he thinks too highly of you." Tungsten jabbed verbally at his ego to snap the other out of his funk.

Razorgear stood still for a moment staring at Tungsten before his mood changed into that of determination.

"I'll find him! Be ready when I bring him back!" Razorgear called from down the tunnel before a loud grinding could be heard; his drills worked with renewed intensity.

…

Gearbox leaned against the scrap pile where he had fallen. His systems sucked in air to act as an secondary coolant to calm his stress.

"This was a bad idea indeed…" Gearbox panted to himself as he rested, having finished his temporary repairs.

He would have been content to sit there and rest further if it were not for a faint clicking and flash of light that caught his optics in the pitch dark of the cavern. At first he thought it was just the result of him hitting his head on the fall down. However, the sound and bluish light filled the tunnel once more. Activating his spotlights Gearbox directed his vision in the direction the sound was coming from.

"That's odd… wait a minute!" Gearbox half gasped out.

There before him at the end of the space was a chamber door. The entrance was inscribed with ancient Cybertronian.

"By Primus it is the chamber of the Ancients!" Gearbox watched as the inscriptions on the door all seemed to glow, fading in and out. With each fade a clicking sound could be heard in time with the sequence.

Pulling himself over to a cavern wall, Gearbox pushed his back into the wall as he forced himself up with his good leg. Staggering a bit he used the wall to stabilize. He limped over and approached the ancient door.

"Th-this is even older than what I expected to find."

He brought his hand up to the door's metallic, golden frame. The sensors on his fingertips instantly picked up the matter of the object.

"Yes muuuch older indeed, readings date this structure here even before the beginning of the suspected first Great War! For all I know this could be as old as Cybertron itself!" Gearbox thought to himself astounded.

His hands trailed over the inscriptions like a blind human reading Braille.

"Dialect is a bit different…" he racked his memory files for data on a similar language to compare for translation. "Twisted double slashes stand for Vac. Triple line with slash in the middle is Tor… chopped spiral symbol doted at the top, let's see uhm… ah yes, the Sig sound… " He mumbled to no one as he thought out loud. "Circular symbol, roughly translated into Me but I suspect the current pronunciation to have evolved from this Ma pronunciation due to extra markings at the end of… wait a minute…" Gearbox staggered as realization dawned on him. "Vac.. Tor.. Sig.. Ma.." Gearbox pointed to each symbol as he read them off.

He stared at it, optics wide in shock.

"The legend! The Legend of Victor Sigma!" Gearbox shouted in excitement and would have jumped for joy if he had not been hurt.

"Primus! This must be Vector Sigma's Chamber! I must get this door open!"

Gearbox frantically searched for some other translation that would do so for him, but he could not find any sort of opening mechanism. However, before he could sigh in disgruntlement, the door clicked at him. Symbols lit up fully as it began to hiss and slide open without even a hint of a command. Gearbox just stood dumbfounded as to what had caused the movement.

"I guess it just recognized my presence? This is ridiculous! The odds of this door even still functioning are astronomical!" Gearbox thought to himself amazed.

As the door opened it revealed a dimly lit chamber within. The lighting within flickered on and off as if struggling to maintain a constant energy flow. The room was indeed ancient and covered in metallic dust and rust. It had definitely seen better days. But Gearbox surmised it was a miracle it was even still intact if his readings had been correct. He must have fallen deeper into the core of Cybertron then he had first thought. However his thoughts were interrupted when his optic caught the glint of a circular structure within the center of the room.

He limped over to the form hesitantly, almost afraid as to what he might find but too overwhelmed not to look.

"Th this is amazing… Th-This must be it. It's Vector Sigma…" he whispered a hand hovering over the grey form that rested in the center of the room.

The sphere had appeared to have once held a golden sheen. Its once illustrious surfaces now faded and cracked. The orb appeared to have circuitry exposed around its center from damage sustained long ago. Gearbox reached out and lightly brought his hand to its surface to examine the artifact further.

He couldn't believe it he was touching Vector sigma!

Instantly data filed past his vision giving him the oldest readings he had ever encountered. It boggled his processor to say the least.

After a moment Gearbox's haze of excitement faded slightly, having examined the once great supercomputer. The state in which it resided was not good at all and it saddened Gearbox to see it this way.

"What happened to you?" he whispered, a hint of sorrow in his voice.

Suddenly lights in the room began to flash and click wildly and the orb began to spark and shutter to life!

"Gah!"

Gearbox had not expected to receive a response as his hand was suddenly receiving a plethora of information along with a sudden jolt of energy.

Gearbox fell back. He withdrew his hand, his processor spinning and his hand still tingling from the experience. He shook his head and looked up to see the orb floating off the floor, dust still falling and drifting to the ground where it had previously lay. Gearbox could only stare in amazement as the orb glowed brightly and shuddered. It was apparent it was straining to do so, but within its confines it was holding back an enormous amount of energy!

Gearbox's sensors interpreted the energy readings as they continued to grow. Finally they skyrocketed to a point off the scale.

"WH What in Cybertron!" he shouted as he scooted back, afraid of what was happening.

A rumbling sound began to emit from Vector Sigma as if it was powering up for something big.

Gearbox hit the ground behind a support beam as the rumbling came to a climax. With a blinding flash a beam of light shot out from the center of the floating orb. Gearbox covered his optics, the rays too intense for even his specialized circuitry to analyze. What he could not see was that the beam had shot out straight into a connecting chamber. The beam lasted for several nano-clicks before it began to subside.

Gearbox looked up to see Victor Sigma lower once again to the floor.

"Wh-what was that light!?" Gearbox muttered breathlessly.

"**I AM VECTOR SIGMA! before CYBERTRON was… **_**I**_** was!"**

Gearbox practically jumped out of his own plating at the sudden commanding voice erupting from the orb before him.

"**Operation Completed…" **

Gearbox looked at the orb as it began to power down, its form shaking and sparking from the exertion of its prior actions.

"Victor Sigma Y-your functional!? Wh- what's completed? What Operation!? What was that light?" Gearbox choked out with shock and fear.

The orb sparked some more straining as it settled back onto the ground. Its form seemed to be turning a shade of grey starting from its outer most edges and working inwards to its damaged core. Gearbox quickly got to his feet, having realized it was the grey of imminent death.

Vector Sigma was deactivating.

"Wait! You can't die yet! Please! Our generation has so many questions! What's happened to Cybertron!? What's happened to our ancestors!?" Gearbox spouted out questions left and right hoping frantically for some sort of an answerer.

"**The Key zrrt, to All…zzrt… Now rests within The Spark…Frrrzzt"** the orb answered its strong voice fading with each word into more and more static.

Finally it rolled slightly to the side as its circuits flashed briefly one last time before fading into darkness. What was left of its golden gleam had turned a pale shade of grey. Victor Sigma, after living countless eras and millennia was now dead. Gearbox slumped to his knees not even focused on the shot of pain from his leg as he did so.

That had been their best chance to find out the history of their race and Gearbox had been too little too late! He pounded his fist into the dust coated floor, causing a small puff to drift up and settle on his form. Not only was loosing Vector Sigma a tragic loss for their kind but an even greater loss for what history and insight it had held.

"What did Victor Sigma mean by that? 'The key to all now rests within the spark'"

Gearbox's processor worked itself just short of overheating trying to figure out the riddle… or had it been one in the first place? Was he answering his question or merely stating something else? Gearbox was so upset and confused.

After a time he pushed himself back to his feet… there was nothing more to be done here. Dragging his damaged leg across the floor, Gearbox made his way slowly to the door. However, as he stepped he walked by another open chamber connected to the one he was in. The sounds of running machines within caught his attention once more. Despite still being upset his curious nature got the better of him and he entered inside the open walkway.

Looking around he noted that the room seemed to be rather barren but in better shape than Vector Sigma's chamber. He looked around some more as he entered. Gearbox discovered that straight back from the entrance at the other end of the room was a small Cryonic Regeneration chamber?

"What is a CR chamber doing so far down in here? It- it even looks newly constructed?" Gearbox thought while he inspected it.

As he did so, he noticed that at the top of the chamber was a golden emblem with more ancient inscriptions on it.

"Lu… Tr… Ex…" Gearbox read out tilting his head to the side. "Something is in here."

Gearbox looked down into the smaller chamber which was covered in dust like everything else. Reaching down he began to wipe the obstruction away from the chamber's glass.

Gearbox kneeled down and brought his face closer to the glass cupping is hands around the sides to look in. The interior was dark and hard to see into, but from what Gearbox could surmise it seemed to be filled with a liquid of some sort.

"Hurm this seems very similar to a sparkl…" Gearbox froze as something stirred within the darkened chamber. "No… it can't be. Not down here!"

Gearbox directed his scanners into the chamber. Sure enough what showed up simply dumbfounded him.

"I-It's a Protoform. No! A Sparkling!" Gearbox shouted out loud.

The sparkling within shifted from being disturbed, unaccustomed to the loud sound.

"Wait! That beam of light from before! Vector Sigma must have issued a Spark into this chamber!" Gearbox realized having known the stories of Vector Sigma for some time.

Suddenly the machine began to vent steam and gurgle. The fluid draining from the tank as the little body within detached from the wires and mechanisms that had kept its Protoform stable for some time. Settling gently on the floor of the CR chamber the clear housing retracted, exposing the Sparkling for the very first time to the outside world. Gearbox witnessed the whole process, still amazed. So much was happening all at once, he could barely keep up. First Vector Sigma and now the birth of a newly sparked Cybertronian!

Gearbox, unable to snap out of his stupor, simply observed as the little purple and grey sparkling swayed slightly unused to the gravity of a harsh world. Instinctively it thrust its hands forward to keep it sitting steady and prevent it from falling forward. Its optics remained closed as its little antenna twitched, taking in the sounds of a new world. They seemed to react with each vented air intake from Gearbox who was kneeling right in front of the chamber. He observed the sparkling's helm gleamed in the dim light. A golden crowned brow reflected the blue light from Gearbox's optics. He also noted two extra appendages, that appeared to be tiny wings, fluttered on its back.

"Primus, this is unbelievable!" Gearbox spoke in awe.

At once the little one's head shot up in the direction of the noise. Its immature vocals clicked and chirped in response. Gearbox couldn't help but chuckle at the sound; it was a sound he had not heard in a very long time.

"Who would have figured I would find you way down here, eh little one?"

The little sparkling tilted its head to the side curiously. Its little optics began to open and glow for the first time. Instinctually it wanted to see who the voice was. It didn't take long before the slits widened and Gearbox was met with a pair of brightly glowing blue optics. Gearbox was astounded as to how blue they were. They were practically neon they were so bright!

"Heh, heh! Well hello." he smiled down.

For a moment he completely forgot the situation he was in as he stared into the youthful optics. There was something calming about them that seemed to ease Gearbox's worry.

The sparkling looked up at him before suddenly smiling and reaching its little arms out, chirping happily. At that Gearbox could help but to laugh.

"Heh! You're quite the fearless little thing aren't you? Erm wait…" Gearbox looked up at the seal on the chamber once again. "Lu Tr Ex… That's your name isn't it… Lutrex." he articulated bringing his finger forward in front of the sparkling slowly, carefully.

Immediately the little hands reached out and grabbed hold of the much larger finger. Like any newborn the grip was weak and strong all at once. Amused, Gearbox brought his other hand around and tickled the young one's cheek gently. The response was immediate as the Sparkling giggled and laughed.

However, the laughter was short lived when suddenly the ground around the chamber began to shake. Gearbox's optics widened in horror as the chamber began to rattle from the side of the wall with Lutrex still in it. Suddenly a large crash and the ceiling in Victor Sigma's room collapsed sending debris flinging at him and the sparkling.

Acting quickly, Gearbox threw himself over Lutrex shielding him from the dust and scrap that went flying into the room. A few chunks impaled into his back and he cried out in pain. Immediately, Lutrex began to wail in distress. The chamber still shook and the glass around the CR chamber began to crack. Grabbing Lutrex, Gearbox moved him out of the way before the shards broke apart and the unit fell to the ground.

Gearbox searched for a more stable area within the room. He found it in the form of a corner with a support pillar close by. Dashing for it he ignored the pain in his leg and wedged himself between the wall and the pillar. He kept the sparkling buried in his arms, drew his knees up, and bent his head down to shield him on all sides if they were to be buried. But instead of being buried alive the rumbling and flying of scrap suddenly stopped as quickly as it had first come.

"BOSS!"

_There _was a familiar voice!

Looking up Gearbox found Razorgear in his drill mode sitting on the other side of the room his lights illuminating the area.

"R-Razorgear! Oh thank Primus what a relief!" Gearbox slumped against the wall his head falling back against it with a clank.

"We've all been worried about you! It's good to see you in one piece… erm for the most part. You look like slag." Razorgear replied, ever the blunt bot.

"Thank you for your observation. It has been noted." Gearbox laughed lightly, too tired and banged up to retort.

Squirming and clicking from within his grasp the little sparkling nudged his way through Gearbox's arms to see who the new voice was. He made whimpering sounds, still a bit traumatized from the quake earlier.

"Shh it's ok little one…" Gearbox held the youth gently to his chest armor as he picked himself off the floor and limped over to Razorgear.

"Uhhh Gearbox… WHAT IS THAT?! Why are you holding a retro rat!" Razorgear backed away from Gearbox having a great "dislike" for the vermin.

"HE is not a retro rat! Razorgear, this is a sparkling!" Gearbox opened his arms enough for the other to see more clearly.

"Wha— WHAT? How the heck? Who… why do you have a sparkling!?" Razorgear shouted causing Lutrex's antenna to pull back slightly.

"SHH! You're scaring the poor guy! Uhhg…" Gearbox reprimanded a little out of character for the normally calm bot.

However it was clear to see he had reached his limit as he slumped down to the ground, exhausted and in a great deal of pain.

"I'm sorry Boss Bot. Come on now, let's get you and the little guy up to the surface. You both need Repatch ASAP by the looks of it!"

Razorgear transformed, bent down and scooped Gearbox up laying him gently over his arms.

Some time passed as Razorgear neared the surface.

"T-thank you Razor…" Gearbox smiled as he looked down at the little sparkling in his arms.

He seemed to have calmed down slightly and was looking up at Razorgear, curiously tilting his head.

"Don't mention it." Razor replied concentrating on climbing up a steeper incline in the tunnel.

"Click click quiirr" Lutrex chirped as if to reply to Razorgear's comment.

"Errr… What was that?" Razorgear looked down at the sparkling in Gearbox's arms.

Lutrex reached up with a small hand as if trying to touch the shiny saws adorning the larger mech's frame.

"Hey, better not squirt! Those are sharp." Razorgear cautioned, slightly amused.

The little sparklings bright eyes glowed as he looked up at Razorgear's face, inspecting it for the first time. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"Crrriiiiip!!" Lutrex suddenly screeched.

"Ack! Loud little oil-drip!" Razorgear rubbed at the side of his audios unaware where he was going.

BAM!

Razorgear face planted into an ceiling outcropping.

"OUFFGA!" Razor withdrew rubbing at his face and nose. "Uhhg. Ow! That hurt!" Razor grumbled "Thanks a lot! You distracted me oil-drip!" He looked back down at the giggling sparkling.

"Heh heh, I think he was trying to warn you. After all Razorgear, you were the one staring at him. Heh!" Gearbox chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. Oh, check it! We're almost where the cave in happened! Tungsten and Ironcrusher should have built that bridge by now to connect the gap!" Razorgear replied as they neared the refined tunnel they had been in before.

…

Ironcrusher had just finished setting the last beam and was waiting for the bonding agent to connect it to the rest of the structure when Razorgear appeared through the tunnel holding Gearbox.

"Tungsten!" Ironcrusher shouted.

"I told you, I have to make more bonding agent it takes some… time." Tungsten turned around to see Razorgear and Gearbox. "Thank the stars, Lad! You found him! Hurry! Get him over the bridge. It'll hold you." Tungsten urged.

Razorgear did so, confident in the other's construction abilities. He noted to himself that he personally would have added a little more flare to the structure.

"Gearbox you brainy soft foot you scared us there. How you fairing?" Tungsten replied when the group was reunited.

"I'm managing. I'm actually grateful that this all happened in the first place." Gearbox replied looking down at Lutrex who was now curled up recharging.

"You hit your head hard or something?! Why would you say… that…?" Tungsten groused before his optics caught sight of the little tiny something that was resting peacefully in Gearbox's arms.

"Is that a sparkling?" he stated evenly.

"Yes he is." Gearbox responded evenly.

"Where did you find him?" Tungsten asked again not betraying any emotion.

"I found him in the chamber below." Gearbox responded, thinking for a moment if he should reveal everything that had happened below to the others.

"Oh… I see." he paused. "I've seen you bring out some pretty bizarre artifacts, but a KID Gearbox!?" Tungsten finally blew smoke out of his pipes flabbergasted.

"Shh! You're going to wake him up!" Ironcrusher shushed the other. "What a little one! He looks not over a cycle!" Ironcrusher responded in a hushed tone.

"All the more reason to get them both back to the surface. The underground is no place for a sparkling and an injured mech. Let's go!" Tungsten turned, transforming.

Ironcrusher followed suit only he opened his rear hatch. "Here! Gearbox and the sparkling can rest in here. They'll be safe the rest of the way." Ironcrusher offered.

Razorgear nodded agreeably, "All right. Saves me the trouble of walking. We can get them up faster."

The mech stepped forward lowering the two gently into the compartment before backing away.

"Thank you Ironcrusher... all of you." Gearbox responded, thankful for having such a dedicated group of mechs as his team.

"You know us. Now rest, Boss. You're gonna need all your energy for when Repatch sees you. Heh heh." Ironcrusher replied as the other two chuckled.

"Oh yeah… I think that's a good idea." Gearbox laid back closing his optics, finally able to rest his damaged frame.

The little sparkling nuzzled showing its contentment, "Prrruuurrr"

With that the compartment closed and the group was off to the surface.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 Bright One**

"Fragit!" a voice echoed from down the hallway of the base startling Bladewing out of his recharge.

"Uhhg now what…" he thought as he powered up his optics and sat up on the berth. He glanced around the room for a minute as he let his systems load up fully.

"You Glitch heads!! You're Comm'n me just now to tell me that!!"

There it was again. Bladewing sighed knowing it could only be coming from the only other mech on base… Repatch. Getting up Bladewing exited his quarters. With a hiss the door closed behind him, reengaging the lock sequence as he headed out to go grab some Energon. He made a mental note to avoid Repatch for the day.

Turning the narrow hallway Bladewing's wing caught and nicked the side of the door. He winced and drew it back, internally cursing the design of their temporary HQ. He didn't even know why he was on this particular mission. There was no use for a flier if all they were going to do was spend their time helm deep in the dirt. But Gearbox had insisted he still come, saying he was part of their team and they never knew if they would need him. So he came. Besides he needed the creds.

Reaching for the dispenser Bladewing filled an Energon canister to save for later before filling a cube for his current need to reenergize. He figured the energy canister would come in handy when whatever the others had done to anger Repatch had come to a climax. He would need to make himself scarce for a while. He really hated the shouting matches they all got into; except maybe Gearbox. It made his audios ring and gave him a processor ache.

Sitting down in the commons area Bladewing sipped at his drink, enjoying the rare moment of silence. Only after some time had passed and the Energon container sat empty did Bladewing reach back and un-subspace a data disk. The disk was actually a letter that he had received awhile back but had never opened. He had been reluctant to access its data since it had been from his home citadel in Metrocon. There was no telling if they were going to call him away on service duty again. Bladewing hated service duty to the Autobots. All it ever was, was one mission after the next dealing with Neo Con delinquents. He opened it revealing that it was indeed a summons. Luckily for him he would have an excuse this time as to why he would not be present for the round up. The gangs had been rather prominent in the news feeds when Bladewing had left on the excavation mission. He supposed he could thank Gearbox for saving him the processor ache.

What Bladewing would never admit though was that he had many friends that had joined the Neo Cons gangs. He himself abhorred their actions and practices, yet the offers of the rebellious mechs had been very tempting. For that reason he disliked the way the Autobots forces were handling the situation. The treatment and type of punishments they were giving out to the mechs caught seemed too severe given they were often deceived victims.

As a result it was only furthering the rebellious ones and creating a never- ending loop that he was sure would spiral out of control. Instead of searching for the leaders of the gangs; the root of the problem; they were targeting the mechs that had been swept up by them like petro mice. Many of whom were on the edge of energy deprivation and living in desperation or minimal creds. Who could blame them for wanting something better in a time of hardship and energy drought after all? He too longed for it like anyone did.

Metrocon, Praxis, and Polyhex; all three great colonies made up of the descendants of the ancient Autobot and Decepticon forces. They all claimed these were peaceful times. Yet, they remained separate in everything they did; only seeking to preserve their customs it seemed. It was apparent to Bladewing, especially regarding the energy draft system. Each colony regulated the system differently but only to benefit themselves and their lands, regardless of the situation of another colony. Sure, they traded with each other, but only if it benefited them somehow. Still they claimed to be united under the Trion Alliance Treaty. Since there was no longer a Great War between the factions it was thought of as peace. Bladewing had to disagree. Real peace would come when the energy crisis had been solved and everyone was truly united.

On that thought Bladewing regarded the message one last time before slipping it back into sub space. As he did he heard the thuds of the larger mechs. The silence now gone, Bladewing got back up and went to return to his quarters before things really blew up. However, as he turned the corner of the hallway, he had not expected the others to come rushing by him at that moment and run into him.

"Oof! Hey! Move your wings!" Razorgear shouted at Bladewing who withdrew, clutching his right wing. He held the appendage with discomfort at having the sensitive structure be so thoroughly jarred by the tough-armored, younger mech.

"Maybe if you hadn't been running down the halls like a sparkling you wouldn't have run into me…" Bladewing grumbled out through grit teeth.

"He's right, move it Bladewing! We have an emergency!" Tungsten shouted as he moved past him carrying Gearbox.

The sight snapped Bladewing out of his grouse.

"Just go ahead of us Bladewing. The passage is too narrow for you to get through anyways." Ironcrusher instructed.

Ironcrusher was indeed right, the large mechbarely could fit in the confined corridors so Bladewing was forced to walk ahead of them. Razorgear gave Bladewing a cheeky grin having been in the right. This had been exactly what Bladewing had wanted to not be a part of, but under the circumstances it was looking like he wouldn't have a choice.

Credit to his never-ending bad luck, Bladewing was the first to enter through the medical room doors. Repatch glared at him as he stepped into a corner hoping to disappear as the others rushed in.

"Lay him down over on that berth at my level… I need to inspect his damages." Repatch ordered with a sense of 'don't argue with me or you will indeed sustain damage.'

Bladewing watched as Tungsten brought Gearbox and set him down on the table. He looked like he was in recharge. However, it was likely Gearbox was closer to stasis considering his damages.

"What happ—" Bladewing had been about to ask one of the others when suddenly he noticed something move on top of Gearbox's chest.

"What in the PIT!?" Repatch swore as he looked down to see the tiny form of a sparkling nuzzling into Gearbox.

The sudden noise however startled it awake and it looked around frantically before its little gaze lifted to Repatch just above. It cocked its head to the side and clicked in greeting.

"Could someone please explain to me why there is a sparkling sitting on Gearbox's chest!" Repatch turned to the others who looked away.

All of them were pretending he wasn't addressing any of them. Repatch sighed and turned back to the little sparkling who looked confused and a little scared at the mech's outburst.

Repatch smiled trying to cover up his urgency and fierce temper. "Its ok little one. Here. Up ya get. I gotta work on your friend here."

He gently went to pick up the sparkling since he needed to work on getting Gearbox into a stable condition.

However, the sparkling would have none of it. Squealing, his little hands clamped down onto Gearbox's frame holding on tight.

"Uhhg come on now it's ok…" Repatch tried to coax but the mechling gave another audio piercing screech.

And the processor ache had begun to Bladewing's discontent. However his mind was more focused on the fact that there was a sparkling in the room. Without even realizing it he had inched closer to get a better look at the little bundle of wires and metal.

Finally, after prying the screeching Sparkling off of Gearbox's unconscious form, Repatch looked for a safe place to set the little guy so he could keep him out of the way while he worked. His optics scanned the room. Bladewing was the closest.

"Hey Bladewing come here!" he said again in that "you better do what I say" tone.

Not wanting to direct Repatch's wrath at himself, Bladewing did as he was told and drew closer, all the while staring at the little purple sparkling.

He was cast out of his state of mind, however, when suddenly his hands were grabbed and the little bot was thrust into his arms.

"W Wait what..?" Bladewing was about to protest but Repatch glared at him and he shut his trap.

That said and done, Repatch made a "get the hell out of my medical room" motion, to which the others obeyed though a bit reluctantly, especially Tungsten whom remained, concerned for his friend.

"OUT you oversized drill bit!" Repatch said without even looking around, knowing all too well that he was still present.

With a huff from his pipes Tungsten left without a word.

Bladewing was about to leave with the sparkling when Repatch stopped him. "Not you. You stay here and look after the Sparkling. I need to look at him next after I'm done with Gearhead here..." Repatch said as he worked on repairs.

Bladewing sighed as the little one squirmed and squeaked in protest in Blades' arms. Bladewing looked back down at the mechling as he fought to return to Gearbox. He curiously inspected the sparkling, since he hadn't seen one in so long. After all, with the energy crisis looming over the colonies, the creation of new sparklings only meant another mouth to feed. For this reason it was unusual to see any younger than a youngling. Since the cost and new regulations were intimidating to say the least.

As Bladewing observed the little one, he seemed to calm down a bit, realizing that he wasn't going anywhere. As the sparkling calmed he resituated himself in Bladewing's arms so he could look up at him; another new face to map out. Bladewing stared down noticing for the first time that the little one possessed an extra pair of appendages on his back.

Wings.

Before, Blade was simply shocked at seeing a Sparkling, now he was even more amazed that this little sparkling was a flier of all things! One of the most unusual builds for a sparkling since typically the parental bots would opt for a less vulnerable body build since the extra appendages could easily be damaged if not taken care of properly.

"Chiirup?" the sparkling replied as if questioning what Bladewing was staring at.

It looked itself over in response.

Bladewing smiled briefly.

"Bright little one isn't he?" a voice came from the table commented.

It was followed by the Medical bot jumping and shouting out an obscenity.

"Slag it Gearbox you gave me a spark attack! Next time give me a little warning please." Repatch replied having thought Gearbox was still offline.

He had been down working on Gearbox's injured leg when the mech's optics powered back on and were observing the two standing nearby.

"Y-yeah…How exactly did this happen?" Bladewing found himself asking, genuinely curious for the first time in quite a while.

"Yes indeed… is that not the million credit question?" Repatch responded as he worked reconnecting the Energon lines in Gearbox's numbed leg. "You're lucky you were out earlier or I might have more damage to fix right now thanks to my own hand."

Repatch swatted Gearbox's shoulder lightly— all talk and no bite this time around.

"Well, I found him down in the Chamber..." Gearbox replied. As he thought more about it he wasn't sure it would be a good idea to tell the others about what had exactly happened while he was buried in Vector Sigma's chamber. At least not right away. As much as he trusted his team he had an instinct that told him it may be better for the sparkling if he didn't go into detail about the circumstances of his creation just yet.

"You found him… way down there?" Repatch looked skeptical. "The others told me what happened. You fell into that chasm and almost got buried alive. You shouldn't have been down there in the first place ya glitch! It wasn't worth the risk and you knew that!" Repatch replied still frustrated at Gearbox's lack of common sense.

Gearbox simply smiled, unaffected. He was used to Repatch's outbursts.

"Actually, I think it was well worth the risk… especially now." Gearbox replied looking at the little one who was now stretching out its arms, wanting to be with him once again. "Perhaps you could say something was guiding my actions, fate or maybe something more."

Repatch just shook his head as he worked.

There was a pause as no one said anything and all that was heard was the sound of Repatch working on re-welding Gearbox's armor.

"Well…" Bladewing looked to Repatch who had changed his mood to sounding slightly amused.

"Hurm?"

Gearbox turned to look back at the medical bot. "Well… what are you going to name him? He_ is_ after all _your _responsibility now since you found him abandoned by his creators." Repatch made the assumption.

"Oh… his name is Lutrex." Gearbox replied.

Bladewing was surprised Gearbox had dropped the name with so little thought. Especially since it wasn't like Gearbox to do so.

"Lutrex? That's an odd name… what does it mean?" Bladewing inquired.

"Oh, it's Ancient Cybertronian… herm… uhh… let's see if I can remember…oh yes! It's roughly translated between dialects as meaning 'Bright One' or 'Warrior of Light'." Gearbox answered at once.

Repatch sat up from his work, appearing finished, "That is an odd name where'd you come up with that? I mean, I can see he definitely is bright-minded, but a warrior of light? What made you think of that?" Repatch asked.

"Ohh… let's just say it came to me…" Gearbox simply smiled.

"Meh, all right. Well, he's _your_ kid now." The medic shrugged before standing up from his seat.

Bladewing looked down at the little one and patted his helm gently getting a purr in response. "Lutrex huh?"

"All right you! Now lay there and rest for a couple breams, give your system some time to finish self repairing. _Even _the minor stuff!" Repatch instructed Gearbox who nodded and smiled. "Now, as for the kid. As a Sparkling Certified medic I need to inspect him and see if he's healthy. I'm worried being down there could have been detrimental to his developmental stages." Repatch walked over to a nearby berth waving a hand to beckon the flying mech, "Bring him over here Bladewing."

The little sparkling looked up to Bladewing, having already determined who the other was referring to. Bladewing nodded to Repatch, brought the sparkling over, and gently set him on the table. However, when he went to let go again the little sparkling grabbed onto the others armored hand.

"Scrreep" he said not wanting to be left on the cold surface alone.

"Looks like he likes you Bladewing. Heh!" Gearbox observed from nearby.

Bladewing gently tried to pry the fingers from his hand but each time he removed one another would latch onto his. He sighed, at a loss, and looking to Repatch for help. Instead the medic seemed to be taking notes on a data disk.

"Reflexes and motor-functions appear to be healthy…" he mumbled at which Bladewing took a big sigh through his vents. This was going to be a long day…

In the end Bladewing resigned himself to standing there and being Repatch's guinea pig for testing out the sparkling's health. The process seemed to take longer than he had first thought it should take.

"Repatch are we done?"

Bladewing looked pathetic as he sat on a hovering stool leaning with his one hand propping up his chin the other being utilized as a teething device for the young sparkling's developing dental plates.

"Ow… ow… ow…..ow…" Bladewing said in a monotone rhythm as the little one bit down on one of his fingers repeatedly.

"Quit your whining Blade, I'm almost done analyzing the results. Then, if everything checks out, you can give him back to Gearbox over there." Repatch replied. He looked back to see Lutrex gnawing on Blade's finger. "He appears to be looking for some nourishment. I'll have to go retrieve some low grade for him. Watch him while I'm gone. I'll be right back." Repatch said as he set down his data card getting ready to leave.

"Wait! That won't be necessary. I have some on me." Bladewing replied un-subspacing the Energon container from before. "It looks like this will come in handy after all. I just filled it not too long ago it should still be fresh for him." Bladewing replied.

Repatch looked annoyed. "Come in handy for what" he asked, knowing all to well how the winged mech was quite the recluse.

"Erm nothing major really…" Bladewing avoided the topic as he brought the container to Lutrex mouth.

The sparkling looked up, finally giving Bladewing's finger a rest. After a few clicks and squeaks the sparkling brought its hand up to the end of the thin cylindrical container. Opening the end it began to sip at the Energon offered to it.

"He Learns quick… just like a flier." Bladewing mused at which Repatch rolled his optics and went back to his data.

After having finished consuming all that his little systems could take in, Lutrex sat contently holding onto Bladewing's hand, still choosing not to release it. Bladewing had long since subspaced the remainder of the container.

"Hurm interesting." Repatch replied after having reviewed the data more.

Gearbox sat up a bit, "Hurm? What's interesting?" he asked.

"You! Lay back down!" Repatch ordered at which Gearbox obeyed.

"It seems that the kid has got an elevated energy level. It may be due to a virus. I'm gonna have to give him a data feed for an antiviral as well as a firewall." Repatch walked back over to the other two.

"I'm about ready for Gears to take him off my hands… literally." Bladewing replied in a bored tone.

"This will only take a nano-click." Repatch replied as he pulled out a small device with a sharp thin needle at the end.

The little Sparkling tilted his head, looking up at Repatch with a smile. He seemed curious to see what the new toy was and reached up to try and grab it.

"Definitely fearless…" Gearbox replied suspired at Lutrex reaction.

"Blades I need you to hold him still." Repatch instructed at which Bladewing gripped his larger hands around the sparkling, being mindful of the wings.

He held him in a firm but gentle grasp knowing what was to come.

"Lutrex, hold still okay, you been a very good little mech so far." Repatch cooed to try and prepare the young one for the shot that was to come.

Steadily Repatch lowered the data injector to the junction of Lutrex's arm where the armor was thinner and exposed cabling.

"Okay little one this is going to sting for just a moment." he replied as he pierced the little sparkling's arm cabling and sent the antivirus into his systems which was followed by the firewall.

"SQRIIRRKK SCREEEECH!!" Lutrex struggled and kicked in Bladewing's arms as he cried out mostly in shock of the pain from the injection.

One of the sparkling's little legs shot out and kicked Repatch knocking the syringe loose before he could withdraw it, leaving it stuck in Lutrex's arm.

"Slag!" Repatch swore as he went to quickly retrieve the syringe before it did any internal damage.

What he didn't expect was for the device to shoot out of the sparkling and literally hit him in the forehead.

"Gak!" Repatch drew back holding his head; the force of the blow actually leaving a dent from the device.

"W, What was that flash of light!?" Bladewing asked shocked.

Gearbox simply watched just as surprised as the others.

"Don't play dumb you didn't hold him still Blade! He swung it right into my head!" Repatch ground out as he rubbed his head before looking back to the Sparkling.

"No! There was a light I saw it! It just shot out of his arm and hit you like that!?" Bladewing replied.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Repatch hit Bladewing over the top of his helm.

As the two were arguing above him no one noticed the bright flash Lutrex's optics gave off before subsiding back to a normal glow. Everyone that is, except Gearbox, who lay watching the whole exchange with wide optics. From what he had observed Bladewing was right. There had been a flash and then the syringe had just shot out of Lutrex's arm without any external force.

After the arguing calmed down Repatch turned back around to go check his readings.

"Well I guess it wasn't a virus after all…" Repatch grumbled having gone through all that for nothing.

At least he had installed the firewall at the same time so they wouldn't need to relive that experience over again he thought.

"Well then what is it?" Bladewing asked a little disgruntled as well.

"It appears that is just his normal readings. Odd that his energy levels at a resting state are so elevated… must be a flaw in his systems. Oh dear…" Repatch suddenly became sullen.

"What?!" Gearbox asked now very concerned.

"Well it may be the reason his creators abandoned him. He may be… I hate this term… but he may be what they deemed as a defect." Repatch replied sullen. "If that's the case there's no telling what the result will be as he grows…" he said looking at Lutrex with sad optics.

Bladewing looked down at him. From what he could see he looked like any normal healthy sparkling. He doubted what Repatch had said was true.

"I dunno he looks exactly how a young flier should be at this stage in his development. Perhaps it was intended in his design?" Bladewing spoke up.

"Hurm I hope you're right. All we can do is help him to mature and wait and see..." Repatch replied.

At Bladewing's observation Gearbox couldn't help but realize how true that statement was. He had to have been created with such abnormalities; it made sense from Gearbox's standpoint. If there was anything he was sure about by now, it was that there was indeed something special about Lutrex.

"All right, well that about covers it. Bladewing you can give him to Gear now." Repatch said as he went to straighten up and clean his tools.

Bladewing sighed in relief as he picked up the squirming Lutrex from the berth and walked him over to Gearbox. The little one stretched out his hands for him, seeking out comfort from the slightly traumatic experience.

"He's all yours Gearbox." Bladewing replied as he gently set him down on the others chest.

Immediately Lutrex began to purr with happiness as Gearbox brought his hands up to make sure he was stable and not going to fall off.

"There, there, bright one. It's ok." Gearbox cooed, helping to calm the sparkling down.

"Good luck with him…" was all Bladewing said before walking to the doorway and leaving the two.

However unbeknownst to the others, the proud flier lingered momentarily, giving one last glace at the scene before departing to his quarters.

Lutrex lay curled up in Gearbox's arms, once again in recharge.

Looking down the mech smiled.

"Special indeed…" Gearbox whispered.

**To Be Continued...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 Lullaby**

The base was quiet. The only sounds heard were instruments humming in idle mode mixed with the occasional stutter of a fan from a sleeping mech. However the calm stillness that began with the end of a solar-cycle would soon be interrupted.

Clink clank… clink clank… clank, CLONGK!

"Oof! Gah! You crushed my foot! Watch where you're step'n you big lug!" a young voice whispered from down the hallway.

"S-sorry my bad Razor." Ironcrusher whispered back apologetically, removing his foot from on top of the others.

Razor coddled the limb and rubbed it a bit irritably; being stepped on by a 60ft tall lummox wasn't exactly pleasant after all. After Razorgear recovered, the two remained silent as they looked up and down the hallway to make sure they had not been discovered. After a few moments Razorgear motioned to his friend to keep moving.

Clink clank… clink clank

The two continued down the hall carefully, both treading lightly so as not to wake the others. However there was one who noticed the sounds right away. His highly attuned sensors picked up on the subtle sounds of footfalls. After all, not much escaped Bladewing's battle-trained processor. From inside his room the resident night owl interpreted the clinking of the mech's pedes outside. Having been interrupted from reading an intriguing holo-novel, he rolled his optics, recognizing the rhythm and sequence of the steps. Because of that he didn't bother to get up.

"Primus knows what those two are up to this time." Blade just shook his helm before picking up where he had left off on the data disk and leaving the other two to their mischief and ultimate fate.

The clanking of feet against the metallic floors continued for awhile longer. That was until the two reached their point of destination.

The Medbay.

There was a snickering outside the door. It went unnoticed by those within the pristine, sterile medical room who were all recharging peacefully.

"Shall I enter the code you hacked from the facility's computer?" Ironcrusher asked, his hand poised over the door's lock mechanism.

"Hang on a second… gonna make sure the Patch-anator is out." the younger Razorgear grinned to his larger friend.

He cupped his audio to the door listening for a moment. He could hear that those inside were in recharge.

Pulling away, he placed his hand at the bottom of the sliding doors where there was a small, triangular gap near the seam by the floor. It was there he inserted his pointer finger. The tip opened up sending out a thin, coiled wire that bent and moved much like a slithering snake. At the end of the coil sat a miniature video feed. It swiveled around, checking the occupants of the room. Zooming in, the little device was able to see the recharging Gearbox with a sleeping Lutrex nuzzling into his shoulder armor. Its job complete, it retracted back to its owner.

"It's just the two. My hunch is that Repatch is recharg'n in his connected room to the med bay." Razor whispered smiling to his friend. He gave thumbs up and winked off one of his optics "Operation Spot a Sparkling is a go!"

"Roger!" Ironcrusher saluted back humorously.

He chuckled lightly. Normally he didn't get involved in Razorgear's crazy ideas, but he couldn't help but want to see the new addition to their team. He figured it wouldn't hurt to give in and join Razor just this once. It was harmless anyways. They were just going to check up on the two while they recharged and get a better look at the little sparkling now that things had settled down, then leave. Before, they had been in such a state of urgency they didn't get a real chance to observe the little one.

The door's airlock gave a smooth hiss as it opened to the two sneaky mechs. Immediately they both moved along the walls in an attempt to imitate the cybernetic martial arts. It was easier said then done for a couple of large, heavily-armored, construction mechs.

BANG

"Oops!" a whispered grunt came from Ironcrusher as he banged his head into a storage shelf protruding from the wall causing it to rattle and dent in from his heavily armored helm.

"SHH! You want to get our afts welded!" Razor again hushed the larger mech, beginning to regret including him.

"This room seems smaller than the last time I came in here." Ironcrusher whispered back.

Unbeknownst to them a pair of little glowing optics had powered up. The keen senses of a young sparkling picking up on the sounds, as well as the other spark signatures within in the room. At first the little one had gripped onto Gearbox tightly, afraid of what was lurking around. However, somewhat familiar voices quickly filled the room and the little hands relaxed. Curiosity soon replaced fear and the little mechling lifted his head, peaking up above Gearboxes protective arm. Trying to be sneaky like the others in the room Lutrex ducked his head and powered off his optics as the other approached.

"Crush, it hasn't changed. You're just a walking bulldozer." Razorgear sighed in response to the bigger bot's problem. "Now dim your optics and follow my lead." he instructed as he made it to the foot of Gearbox's med berth that rested along the wall.

Unfortunately, the sharp mech also noted it was right next to where Repatch's door was located. No doubt the medic wanted them both close in case they needed him. The two of them were going to have to be extra cautious or else risk waking up Repatch.

Razorgear looked down and smiled observing the little mech cuddled into Gearbox's arm, "Daww… he really is a cute little oil drip ain't he."

Razor grinned when the little one shifted slightly.

"Gah!!" Ironcrusher grunted from across the room.

"What now?" Razor looked back to his friend as he stood right next to the side of the berth.

"I… I think I'm stuck!" Ironcrusher gasped as he tried to get himself free.

However the motion only caused more noise.

"Stop! Stop! Your vibrating the whole place! Just wait a minute, I'll be right there… giant pain in the aft." Razorgear mumbled the last part under his breath.

"It's my foot. My treads got tangled into some of the machine's wiring."

"I _knew_ we should have found a way to route the wiring under the floorboards! But did anybody else care about the place looked? Noooo. 'As long as it's functional kid, it don't have to look pretty'." Razor imitated Tungsten's gravely voice, as he looked through the tangled mess that was Ironcrusher's foot.

Suddenly from the other side of the room came a squeaking clicking.

"Uhh… what was that?" Razorgear was afraid to ask.

"Squeheheep!" the little sparkling sat up on Gearbox as its little wings fluttered and his little body shook with giggles.

"W-we woke the kid up!" Ironcrusher pointed horrified as the sparkling squealed happily.

"Shhh! Shhh! Keep it down little guy! Shhhh!" Razorgear fumbled with the wires while turning back with one hand in the gesture of shushing the little mechling.

As he did so his own armor got snagged and his hand was added to the tangled mess.

"Scrap now I'm tangled!" Razorgear struggled to undo his hand by pulling and tugging.

"Shhhhhh!" Lutrex imitated him only on a painfully high frequency.

"Mission aborted!! Mission aborted! We gotta get outta here before Repatch hears him!" Razorgear's optics widened.

He pulled and tugged at the wires even harder than ever, but the strong cables refused to let the two mechs go. Lifting up his foot against Ironcrusher's armored leg he pressed with his feet and tried to pull his hand out of the mess of tangles.

"H-Hurry Razor I think I hear someone stirring!!" Ironcrusher urged the younger mech.

If he had been human the passive mech would have been sweating bullets. Having heard the stir of the medic in the other room, Ironcrusher enacted drastic measures. Reaching down the big mech grabbed hold of Razorgear's midsection and lifted him up, tugging and pulling trying to get him free.

"Gahhk!" Razorgear grunted not expecting the other to literally pick him up… upside down no less!!

"SQCREEHEHEHE!!" the Sparkling Shrieked with laughter!

To Lutrex's point of view the sight in front of him was nothing short of hilarious. He watched as the two funny mechs did a silly dance while one held the other upside-down. He gave a squeak of approval clapping his hands together, delighted when the smaller shiny one would make a silly noise when he hit his head against the floor as the other shook him.

"OW! Slag'n…" Razor whispered/ grunted angrily. "Put… me… dooownaaahh GUH!"

Razor finally had enough. He put his feet against Ironcrusher and pushed off. Of course, right at that very moment, the cabling holding Razor's hand to the Ironcrusher's foot snapped, causing the mech to flip over onto the floor.

"Owww. Ohhh…. Iron I'm never taking you on my adventures ever…again?" Razorgear paused in his whisper realizing that the laughing of the sparkling had subsided suddenly.

He looked over to see the sparkling appearing to be faking recharge. Lying on his back, he looked forward. There standing in front of his helm was a set of pedes… notably one was tapping irritably.

Razorgear's optics trailed up the legs all the way up to the shadowed figure until all he could see was the ominous glow of a pair of narrow blue optics.

Razorgear's fans stuttered.

"Scrap." was all he muttered.

"And what brings _you_ to the pit this day… Razorgear?" the voice was cool and almost sounding pleasant. But the other two knew better and it sent a chill down even Ironcrusher's back.

Busted.

"Erm… recharge-walking?" Razorgear answered in a half whimper and wore his cheesiest grin.

The optics remained unrelenting as they stared down at the mech lying on the floor.

"Oh? How interesting that Ironcrusher over there seems to be experiencing the same symptoms as you. Wouldn't you agree, Ironcrusher?" the voice ground out the name this time with no unrestrained malice.

"Heh… Heh…" Razorgear laughed nervously as he began to try and slink away on the floor as the medic's gaze had deviated to Ironcrusher for a brief moment.

"Where do you think you're going?" Repatch's dark features suddenly lit up to the red glow of a welding torch.

Its flames were as ominous as the Pit itself as it cast the facial plates of its owner in a red demented glow.

"I need to inspect the cause of such a PHENOMENON!" Repatch bent down to grab at Razorgear but the mech was one step ahead of him and dodged.

"GRAAAHHH YOU SLAGGER! COME HERE! AFTER ALL, YOU _MUST_ HAVE HAD A GOOD REASON TO COME INTO MY MEDBAY WHEN I SPECIFICALLY SAID _NO_ VISITORS! YOU'RE GONNA GET THE TREATMENT YOU DESERVE! GRAHH!" Repatch finally blew up as he grabbed the nearest tool on his shelf and hurtled it at the retreating Razorgear.

At that, Gearbox started awake!

"W-What's going on!" Gearbox clutched at Lutrex who squirmed to look over the mech's arms to watch the action. The little mech squeaked and giggled in delight as the funny mechs did more dancing, but to Repatch's command this time.

Razorgear tried to dodge the numerous flying projectiles without much success since the medical bot had plenty of practice to develop a good aim, "ACK OW!"

"Now look what you did! You woke them up Repatch!" Razorgear ducked behind a table.

"GRAAH!" Repatch gave chase.

Razorgear rounded the table making sure to keep it between him and the infuriated med-bot. While Repatch was busy chasing Razor, Ironcrusher was making his own escape.

"H-Hey! Why are you chasing _just_ me! Ironcrusher was in on this too you know!!" Razor tried to distract the medic, still keeping one step ahead of the smaller but enraged Repatch.

"OH! Thanks _a lot_ Razorgear! AHCK!!" Ironcrusher shouted before a wrench went flying into his helm and he ran out of the room.

That settled it. Never again would he be a part of Razorgear's bolt-brained ideas! This was too much drama for a passive bot like him anyways.

"I KNOW THIS WAS YOUR IDEA! NOW, C'MERE!" Repatch lunged over the top of the table to get at the large but stealthy mech on the other side.

However this only served as an advantage to Razorgear as he ducked under the table and made a bolt for the door. Repatch slid off the table and tumbled onto the floor behind.

"GRAAH!"

Repatch, however, was quick to recover. Before Razorgear could clear the exit he hurled a hammer-shaped tool at his head. There was a resounding CLANG that echoed in the room as Razorgear staggered forward. He ran into the wall before he shook his head, looked back a second, and then ran down the hall, never daring to look back again.

"THAT'S RIGHT YOU'D BETTER RUN! GET OUTTA MY MED BAY! IF I SEE YOU IN HERE AGAIN IM GOING TO WELD YOUR AFT TO THE CEILING!!" Repatch shouted with every intent of keeping his threat.

After having watched the whole thing Gearbox pinched the bridge of his nose. By now it was easy to figure out exactly what had transpired. He shook his head. Lutrex however was a plethora of squeaks and giggles as the whole exchange greatly amused the sparkling. This surprised Gearbox as he looked down at the little one.

Repatch stood in the hallway for a minute his armor flared and his vents exhaling steam from his heated systems. After a few more minutes the mech seemed to return back to normal, his temper having subsided for the moment.

"I'm sorry about that." Repatch replied more calm now to Gearbox.

Gearbox only shook his head and smiled.

"It's alright Repatch if you hadn't woken us they would have anyways. Besides, I think Lutrex got a kick out of the show. Heh!" Gearbox laughed as Lutrex clapped his hands together at Repatch.

At seeing that, the medic gave a grunt.

"What they did was disobey my strict rules! It's not funny to me little one." he started shaking his finger but soothed his voice after the sparkling looked a little afraid as a result.

"But… if it brightened your lunar-cycle then I _suppose_ I'll let them off the welder torch, just this once." Repatch placed a finger on Lutrex's nose, affectionately poking it which made the mechling giggle.

Gearbox placed a gentle hand on the sparkling's helm.

Lutrex simply tilted its head back to look at him. "Quirrrr?"

"Try to get him back into recharge as soon as possible. We're gonna have a busy solar cycle tomorrow moving to the other dig site. I suspect he will need all the energy he can get. Especially with those two." Repatch rolled his optics.

"They're going to coddle him like no other, I can see it already…" Repatch sighed as he walked to his room.

"Heh heh! Indeed. Good Lunar-cycle Repatch, rest well." Gearbox nodded shifting back to lie down; Lutrex this time settling in the crook of his arm.

"You'd better get your recharge too. Doc's orders." Repatch replied stretching his gears tiredly and waving a dismissive hand before the door to his quarters hissed shut.

…

Some time went by and Gearbox began to power down once more. However, before he could settle into a deep recharge, the wriggling form next to him kicked him back into the waking world.

"Screerrruuu…" little Lutrex whined pitifully.

He appeared to be unable to rest after having so much excitement. Gearbox was unsure what to do as he watched the little one toss and turn optics still wide open.

"What's the matter little one?" Gearbox looked down at the pleading optics.

They looked desperate to fall asleep, but couldn't. Gearbox suspected it was thanks to the earlier action. It had left him far too excitable to fall immediately back into a rest cycle. Gearbox had to wrack his processor. Solving ancient mysteries and decoding dialect he could do any day, but never before had he dealt with an over-tired sparkling.

"You want to see those two again don't you?" Gearbox guessed.

The little mech's antenna perked up at that.

"Ah, just as I suspected. You're curious to meet them aren't you? I'm sorry, but they aren't going to be back this lunar-cycle little one. Please try to get some recharge." Gearbox patted the other on the back when Lutrex wings sank in disappointment.

"I'll tell ya what…" Gearbox smiled when Lutrex looked back up hopeful, "I'll make sure you get to meet them come the Solar-cycle, _if_ you get a good long rest."

He winked his optics, holding up his finger as if stating a fact. At this the little sparkling smiled before settling down again, trying his best to rest. Gearbox settled back down once more.

However, even this seemed to make the sparkling more anxious. Again he continued to shift, unable to rest his systems completely. Gearbox sighed. He was at a loss. He didn't know how to get the little one to relax and calm down. The poor guy was trying now but even the prospect of meeting the others tomorrow wasn't helping at all.

Gearbox lay listening to the disgruntled grumbles of the restless mechling and the soft frequencies of the machines within the med bay. As he sat he reflected on how he found the sounds of the machines to be soothing to him. Of course that was before he had spent time in the med bay from an accidental injury. As this thought pattern crossed his mind suddenly something came to him…

The sound was soothing.

The sound started out as a slow hum. Lutrex could feel the soft vibration of the mech's vocalizer as sound waves slowly rose and fell, resonating from Gearbox's chest. Soon the hum grew into a melodious tune. At first the sound startled Lutrex, but the more he listened the more the alternating vibrations seemed to put him into a pleasant trance. With every rise and fall of the tune the little sparkling inched closer to recharge. He yawned, expelling used air from his vents as his little optic lids began to waver and fall closed.

Gearbox smiled as he hummed and sang the tune. He could feel the little one begin to relax finally. Only after he was completely sure that the sparkling had drifted off did he slowly let the tune fade. Glancing down he could see Lutrex curled in against his shoulder and was sleeping soundly once more.

Gearbox never thought he would ever sing that tune. It had been an alien race's music he had picked up while studying the interactions the ancients had with allied worlds. As he recalled it had originated from the Sol System; from a small planet called Earth.

"Who would have thought that a lullaby for the sparklings of the Earthen race would work so well for sparklings of our own?" Gearbox mused to himself.

He guessed some things were just universal.

"Recharge well, Bright One for tomorrow will bring about a great adventure." Gearbox rested his hand protectively on the sparkling's back as he too drifted off to the caress of the lullaby's tune within his own processors.

**To Be Continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 First Steps**

The smell of freshly refined energon wafted through the base's vents, its scent possessing a hypnotic quality that the mechs on base could not deny. Those most affected were the ones who had risen early from an incomplete recharge.

Bladewing sat on the couch as he sipped at his early solar-cycle ration of energon. Despite being a night mech, contrary to popular belief, he was also a morning mech. The main reason being, both were times he could get peace and quiet from the others.

The blue and golden mech sat reading his holo-disk as the rays of light bounced off his freshly waxed frame. He had still not finished the intriguing story from the night before, having been interrupted. The ruckus generated by the two miscreant mechs was enough to wake the whole base and made it impossible to concentrate on the story or get any recharge.

Well, at least that was what it had been like for Bladewing. Knowing Tungsten he slept like an iron rock, if the usual obnoxious sound of the old mech's vents stuttering was any indication. It had only been after Repatch's banshee screaming had subsided when Bladewing had resigned himself to recharge for the night.

Heavy footfalls could be heard echoing down the large base's halls. Bladewing knew instantly it was Tungsten even before the door slid open revealing the gray mech. Bladewing looked up nodding to the other.

"Good Solar…" Tungsten grunted as he dragged his feet a little.

Unlike Bladewing the older mech was not as fond of the early mornings. His older systems didn't warm up as quickly as the other younger mechs' on base. But to his credit he would never complain about it like Repatch did.

Bladewing went back to reading his novel as Tungsten walked past him to grab some energon. After filing up a good-sized cube, the mech made his way to sit at a nearby table across from the couch where Bladewing sat.

"What cha got your nose into now?" Tungsten inquired after taking a good long swig of his energon. He set it down with a slight clink.

Bladewing looked up at the other setting the disk down with a sigh. "Some accounts of battles from Metrocon; records during the space colony era." Bladewing explained half-heartedly.

"Meh… why do you read about old fools? Someone your age should be more worried about what to do with the future."

"For one: I can relate. Why not learn from them?"Bladewing shrugged.

"Just because you're a soldier like them don' mean you got to view everything the same way they did."

"Why not? I find them to be quite enlightening. We could use their views in today's world." Bladewing commented eyeing the older mech curious as to why he would speak out against something he had obviously been apart of.

"They're lies. Trust me there's nothing true in those stories kid. It's just a bunch of propaganda. It's a load a scrap; nothing good about war." Tungsten grunted before taking another long swig of his energon.

Bladewing frowned watching him.

"Well then… what about you? What would you say about those times? You obviously know something about them." Bladewing jabbed, a little irritated at the other claiming he was wasting his time.

Tungsten jerked unexpectedly at that question; the energon in the cub spilling down his cheek slightly. He set the remainder of the cube down and wiped the energon away from his face before standing up. He turned around and looked at the other mech, his face a mask to the true turmoil bottling beneath his metallic hide.

"I'm going to begin surveying the safest route to the next dig site. As soon as you're done, I need you to fly on ahead and relay me the quickest and safest route there. It'll make the process go faster." Tungsten stated ignoring the look he got from the flyer as he turned and walked out of the room.

Bladewing sighed. He should have known Tungsten would seal shut like a security bunker. Part of him really didn't care about the old mech's opinion. Bladewing enjoyed the stories because at least they held some semblance of justice unlike the current world he lived in.

However, part of him wondered what he could learn from the older mech. What had happened to him to make him have that view of the past? If what Tungsten said was true then what _was_ the truth? Had Bladewing's hope in there being some true justice and rightness to the world been ill-conceived?

Call it ignorant, but he'd rather choose to believe there was a time when their race held some form of untainted justice. He'd rather base his own actions on a fairytale than to bury himself in the bitter depression that came with the truth. If there was a time true righteousness had existed there was a chance it could be that way again.

Like always Bladewing's thoughts were interrupted. Not long after Tungsten had departed did two more mechs lumber into the Rec room. Bladewing rolled his optics at the two who plodded over to the energon dispenser. He noted how the two sported several dents across their frames, mainly on their heads.

"Don't… even… say anything…" Razorgear grumbled having noticed Bladewing staring at him and Ironcrusher with that look he gave when he knew exactly what was going on.

At that Bladewing simply shook his head at the youngest; correction second youngest; before getting up to leave. He'd rather spend his time with a grumpy Tungsten, who at least respected his desire for peace and quiet, than this immature troublemaker.

"Hey Bladewing, where are you going?" Ironcrusher inquired his ego not as injured as Razor's.

"Tungsten needs my help in scouting out a safer route to the next excavation site we decided on a few cycles ago if this spot didn't work out." Bladewing replied before departing out through the doors.

"Oh, that's right. With all the excitement I forgot we still have that site to check out." Ironcrusher nodded before moving to sit on a bench especially designed to support his large girth.

"You're just forgetful. Admit it." Razorgear nipped verbally, still sore for the other getting him caught and into trouble the last lunar cycle.

The giant mech turned his head to glare at the younger. He was not in the mood for Razor's jabs this morning. Razorgear seemed to pick up on it and shut up quite quickly after that. He knew that Ironcrusher was a giant softy, but there _was_ a limit to what he would put up with. Razorgear opted instead to change the subject.

"So… I wonder why boss had us get up at this time if Tungsten and Blade-bot are already scouting?" Razor inquired to Ironcrusher.

Ironcrusher rubbed his double chin in thought, "No idea. My guess is we're gonna be helping get the equipment packed back into the container and _that_ means retrieving all those sensors still down in the tunnel. If anything, we need to wait here until the Boss tells us what's up."

"Oh that's just great! Tungsten and Blade get to go out exploring and we're stuck to clean up." Razorgear plopped back onto the couch.

"Hurumph… can you blame them after the stunt we pulled last night? I should have never listened to you. I'm going to have to make sure I don't get any damages digging for several solar-cycles until Repatch cools down. Never again am I gonna be a part of your little ideas Razorgear." Ironcrusher shook his head mumbling the last part.

"Hey! You were all for it too! Don't give me that!" Razorgear crossed his arms hotly and looked away. "Your fault we got caught." he mumbled so Ironcrusher didn't hear it.

He would just have to find another accomplice in the future. One that wasn't so HUGE and noisy! Bladewing would have worked if he wasn't a stick in the mud. Tungsten would just slap him across the back of his head, and Gearbox was the boss and now he had a sparkling to care for… Wait a minute… sparkling… Lutrex! Razorgear grinned to himself snickering.

Ironcrusher gave Razorgear a suspicious look. "What's so funny now?"

He knew that snicker and it never boded well.

"Oh nothing!" Razorgear straightened as he went to grab his cube from the table and sipped it with an innocent smile.

Before Ironcrusher could inquire further, having not fallen for the charade, the door hissed open. The two turned in their seats to see who had entered. They both tensed, worried it may be Repatch. He was the _last_ mech they wanted to see at this time. However, they relaxed as Gearbox's brown and burgundy form appeared in the hallway. Most notably the little sparkling was chirping excitedly in his arms.

"Hey Boss! It's good to see you back in order and recovered!" Ironcrusher waved as Gearbox walked into the room.

"Squreer!" Lutrex squealed excitedly, having spotted the other two.

"Ah yes, luckily for me Repatch is quite the talented medic." Gearbox smiled as the others cringed a little at the mention of the other mech. At that Lutrex began to giggle loudly before he suddenly frowned and shook his finger at the other two, imitating the older mech. The others looked at him for a moment just dumbfounded before they broke out into laughter. The little sparkling giggled, happy with himself at having impressed the other two.

"HAHA! Hey, he's got him down perfectly!" Razorgear laughed hard holding his sides.

Ironcrusher nodded his head agreeing. Gearbox coughed at that to get their attention once again. Eventually their laughs subsided and they gave the smaller mech their undivided attention.

"As amusing as it is, Repatch was not happy that you disobeyed his rules. And, as I'm sure you know, you're on clean up duty today at his request." Gearbox looked to the two as they nodded.

Razorgear's shoulders slumped more than Ironcrusher's. It wasn't too surprising of a reaction given he hated clean up more than Ironcrusher did.

"However, that's not the reason I called you two in here." the two looked back to Gearbox at that. "After all, if you two were _that_ eager to see a sparkling up close and risked Repatch's wrath, I think it is only fair to formally introduce you to Lutrex here."

The kind, blue optics of Gearbox's gave a glint of amusement. He resumed his walk over to the pair of younger mechs. He sat down on the couch next to Razorgear just across from Ironcrusher. Lutrex sat on his lap for only a brief moment before he tried to crawl over to Razorgear. His little sparkling mind remembered how funny the dancing mech had been, not to mention his shiny bright colors were quite optic-catching.

"Lutrex seems to agree as well." Gearbox added as he let the Sparkling crawl over to Razorgear.

"T-thanks Boss! Err, uhh are you sure he's okay? I mean, he won't fall right?" Razorgear inquired nervous as he put up his arms to act as a barrier from the edge of the couch. To them it wasn't anything, but to such a little one a fall from there could damage something.

"He'll be fine if we watch him. I trust you Razorgear. Just keep an eye on him like you're doing now." Gearbox encouraged the unsure mech.

One thing that Gearbox observed about Razorgear was how cocky the mech could be about his technique in construction and building when the others were around. As soon as he was given any important responsibility on his own Razorgear seemed to hesitate, like he was unsure of himself. It was obvious to Gearbox the young mech held some insecurity so he boasted and sought out the constant attention of others to hide it. Gearbox knew the only way Razorgear was going to overcome this was to build the mech's confidence.

Razorgear watched as the little sparkling slipped on his leg and he flinched, "Whoa be careful little guy!"

But Lutrex had only slipped back onto the softer couch below. He squeaked in surprise, but nothing else. After a moment, he tried again to climb up the others leg. This time however Razorgear brought his hand down and gently lifted the little mech up with both hands. He held up for a moment unsure what to do next.

"Quirrirrr!" Lutrex squeaked out frustrated and struggled a little.

"I think he wants to sit on your lap Razor." Ironcrusher guessed.

"Oh… r- right." Razorgear set the little mech down onto his lap, being careful not to let him get caught or get pinched by his knee joints.

The little sparkling looked up to Razorgear tilting his head to the side. Razorgear looked down at him confused as to what to do next.  
"What should I do now?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Just let him get a good look at you. He's mapping out your features." Gearbox looked from Lutrex to the now second youngest.

"I read this is common for sparklings his age. They do this so they recognize their caretakers." Gearbox explained.

While he explained this Lutrex began to explore more, climbing up onto Razorgear to explore the many brightly colored, armored spikes that adorned Razor's back.

"Oh no, don't touch those Squirt!" Razorgear put his hand in the way to keep the other little one from poking himself on his armored spikes.

He turned the armor away so the spikes were facing away from the curious hands. Lutrex made a little disappointed squeak but moved on to look at other interesting structures.

"Phew…" Razor sighed before turning back to Gearbox.

"So you're say'n he thinks I'm like a Bro to him now?" Razorgear asked, intrigued.

"Huh. Well in a matter of speaking I suppose, yes, he does look at you like that. Perhaps more like… there's an Earthen saying for this type of relation…" Gearbox paused thinking.

"Oh yes, your relation would be described as an 'Uncle' to him." Gearbox replied.

"Hah! An Uncle huh?" Razorgear smiled as he let Lutrex grab hold of his finger and examine it.

He chuckled when the tip slid back and the little video feed wire snaked out, surprising the little sparkling. Lutrex let go and backed away for a second, but curiosity soon replaced surprise and he inched closer again. He brought up his hand to touch it, but instead swatted it away and giggled when it just vibrated like a spring. Lutrex went to hit it again but Razorgear retracted it and he swung and missed. He looked confused for a moment before he went to grab at it as it extended out but again it evaded him. He squealed happily playing the new game.

"Heh, I don't think Razorgear's an uncle." Ironcrusher laughed, amused at the little sparkling playing with Razorgear.

"Hey! Why can't I be an uncle like everyone else?" Razorgear sounded indignant. While Razorgear was distracted Lutrex latched onto the camera and inserted it into his mouth in triumph.

"Ehhck… great…" Razorgear winced as the sparkling slobbered on the delicate equipment.

"Haha no kid, you're too young to be an uncle. You're definitely more like a big brother." Ironcrusher laughed at Razorgear's expression to the sparkling having won the little game of "catch the camera". Razorgear managed to retract the unit before the sparkling could begin chewing on it to test out his denta.

"A- a Bro? Hurrmm… never had a brother before… why not!" Razorgear looked down at the little one who glanced back up at him. Did you hear that Lutrex? I'm your big Bro so you'd better listen to what I say okay?"

"Brrrrruuuurrr!" Lutrex imitated the sounds for the word.

"Heh h-hey did you hear that! He totally just called me his bro!" Razorgear guffawed.

Gearbox chuckled and Ironcrusher nodded.

"It's certainly apparent he absorbs information quite quickly. I figure it won't be long till he begins to grasp speech." Gearbox commented bringing his hand down to tickle the sparkling's chin.

"Greeereek!" Lutrex giggled before scuttling away to the edge of Razorgear's legs looking down.

He stopped, waved, and backed up, wary of the far drop down. Lutrex looked across the way to Ironcrusher before looking back up to Razorgear with pleading optics.

"It looks to me like Lutrex wishes to see Ironcrusher." Gearbox observed.

"Oh yeah? Lutrex, do you want to go see Big Green?" Razorgear pointed to the large green mech.

At that Lutrex clicked and shook his head up and down in a yes like he had seen the others do when giving an affirmative.

"Okay little bro, down you go!" Razorgear went to lift the little one up.

Grabbing just under the arms on each side he gently lowered the sparkling to the floor. Lutrex squealed with delight as the air current rushed over him before he was set lightly on the floor. However when Razorgear let him go the little sparkling plopped back onto his rear, unable to stay balanced for very long. He looked up to the large green mech with wide optics. His little sparkling mind overwhelmed with just how huge the mech was to him.

"Well, go on little guy. Go see uncle Iron." Razorgear urged the little one.

"I don't think he knows how to walk yet." Ironcrusher observed as Lutrex just sat there.

At that Gearbox stood up next to Lutrex. "It's better if he learns to walk before he tries to crawl." he explained.

"Um why is that?" Ironcrusher questioned.

"Well, sparklings who start out crawling tend to get damaged knee joints. Repatch informed me that they're more susceptible to getting dirt and scrap into their systems that can complicate their growth." Gearbox explained.

"Oh that makes sense. Don't want that now." Ironcrusher agreed as he watched Gearbox walk over.

"Watch me little one. Like this." Gearbox took slow even steps towards Ironcrusher.

Lutrex observed. His optics lit up brightly as his processor analyzed what Gearbox was doing. The little mechling leaned forward putting his hands out to support his weight. At first, all he could manage was to crawl along the floor at a snail's pace. However he stopped to watch Gearbox again while he continued to walk back and forth to give him an idea of what to do.

After a moment Lutrex pushed back causing him to kneel on the floor. He swayed a bit, trying to balance. After a few times of having to lean forward back into a crawl Lutrex managed to keep a steady kneeling position.

"There ya go you're get'n it! Try putting your knee up." Razorgear encouraged, bringing his hands down so Lutrex could grab onto one to steady himself.

Lutrex's processor worked to solve the issue. He wanted to do what the big mechs could do! Watching Gearbox he brought one leg up and placed his foot flat on the ground. Grabbing onto Razorgear's other hand Lutrex began to lean forward and push himself up. It took a couple failed attempts of bouncing back and forth before he managed to stand up.

Imitating was fun, but this was proving to be slightly more difficult for the little sparkling. He wanted to just crawl to get to the big green mech, but their happy voices encouraged him to try harder.

"Look at that! Good job Lutrex!" Ironcrusher smiled. Lutrex could sense the others were pleased.

He squeaked excitedly.

"All right Lutrex. Come this way now. I know you can do it!" Gearbox knelt down next to Ironcrusher and motioned with a smile and a wink.

This served to make the little sparkling giggle. Holding onto Razorgear's hands, they guided him as he began to lift his foot up and forward, just like Gearbox had shown him.

One at a time, slow and steady, Lutrex began to take baby steps towards Ironcrusher and Gearbox.

"I think he's getting the hang of it!" Razorgear observed.

"That's good! Try easing your hands away. Let's see if he can balance on his own." Gearbox instructed.

Razorgear stopped moving his hands with the sparkling as he continued to step forward. The little one was so excited he could walk that as he stepped he released the stabilizing hands. Suddenly, he found it just a bit harder than it had been before. Lutrex looked up to the others a bit nervous. He stopped, wobbling as he struggled to stay upright. Instinctually, the little wings on his back fluttered back and forth to act as counter weights to keep him from falling over. However, he wasn't quite prepared for the sudden lack of stability. With a harmless clink the sparkling found himself back on his rear.

The others glanced at each other and smiled, knowing this would happen at least a few times before the little one got the hang of it. Lutrex however had not expected this. He looked up, his little optics wide with a defeated look of frustration. He was about to cry when Gearbox spoke up.

"It's ok little one. You almost got it. Go ahead and try again." Gearbox soothed at the sight of the sparklings teary optics.

"Yeah, you can do it squirt! I know you can!" Razorgear gave the sparkling a thumbs up and a wink.

Lutrex's frown transformed back into a smile at the others positive reinforcement.

However, as the little sparkling looked back down to the ground, his demeanor instantly morphed into determination. Putting his hands forward he pushed up once again much quicker then before into a standing position. His wings adjusted along with his arms as he fought to stay balanced. Hesitantly at first, the little sparkling took baby steps.

"Wow! I think he's determined to get this down right now! Hah!" Ironcrusher commented at which the others nodded in agreement, they too having noticed the change in attitude.

With each step Lutrex became more and more, sure of himself. Faster and faster he began to walk as the movements and motions of the process began to feel more natural to him. However, while he was concentrating on this, he didn't stop to realize where he was going.

"Whoa! Look out lil guy!" Ironcrusher tried to warn.

However, the sparkling bumped right into his large foot, toppling backwards onto the floor once again. Lutrex gave a squeak of surprise but otherwise remained unhurt. Lutrex shook his head and looked up… waaaay up. The green mechs optics glinted in a smile as he looked down at the mechling.

"Well hello there, little one." he laughed.

"Good job Lutrex you did it!" Razorgear shouted happily for his new little bro.

"Well done, Bright One." Gearbox also praised and went down to lift Lutrex up.

Lutrex clicked and squealed with delight, having succeeded in his first real challenge. To the little sparkling being just like his caretakers was top priority.

Gearbox patted Lutrex gently on the helm and the little sparkling nuzzled into the touch. Looking back to Iron the little sparkling thrust his arms out wanting to see him. Ironcrusher brought his large hands down and cupped them together like a bowl while Gearbox gently placed the sparkling in the strong but gentle hands.

"Hey, don't drop him big guy!" Razorgear sounded a little nervous, more so than Gearbox himself.

"Protective brother are we?" Ironcrusher chuckled to which Razorgear just crossed his arms and looked away with a slight blush.

"Don't worry I'm watch'n him." Ironcrusher assured.

Gearbox nodded, trusting the large mech. Even though Ironcrusher was the biggest mech he had ever met, he knew that Iron was also one of the most gentle. Part of him had a feeling the huge mech had, over time, learned how to handle himself when it came to his size. Though there were still times the poor giant would find himself stuck or caught despite his best efforts. Gearbox couldn't blame him for that. It was bound to happen.

The motion of Ironcrusher bringing the little one up to his face caused Lutrex to fall back slightly. He lay in the massive palms while a pair of bright green optics smiled at him. Curious as always, Lutrex climbed to the edge of the hand and reached out, touching the mech's face. Tiny fingers grazed over flexible dermal plating as the cheeks stretched into a smile. Lutrex's antenna twitched as he felt the huge mech vent air out through his nose.

"I think he's focusing on your face since the rest a ya would take too long for him to see! Haha!" Razorgear snickered.

"He's not the only one get'n a good look." Ironcrusher replied glancing at Razorgear. However his attention was soon recaptured as suddenly Lutrex grabbed a hold of the mech's nose between his two little hands.

"Haha! Hope you're not ticklish!" Razorgear laughed at how Ironcrusher's optics went cross-eyed.

"Urrk.. Nactualy Nya-I'm…Nurk." Ironcrusher replied awkwardly as the sparkling stuck his little hands up his nose.

Iron twitched his nose trying to get the little one to release it but to no avail.

"Nuurr Nutrex hehrr nat Nickles" Ironcrusher did his best not to laugh as the sparkling just kept tickling the inside of his nose.

Lutrex giggled as the other spoke funny to him, only encouraging him more. However, he was stopped when the larger mech lowered his hands slightly away from his face taking the exploring sparkling with them.

Lutrex squeaked and whirred as the big green mech in front of him scrunched up his face and wiggled his nose after having been thoroughly explored by the curious sparkling. Both Gearbox and Razorgear also found the expression to be quite hilarious as they too enjoyed a good laugh along with the sparkling.

"Gotta watch those little hands of his. He's definitely gonna get into everything." Ironcrusher laughed as he lowered the little one back down to the ground.

This time Lutrex remained standing as he chirped. The little one looked around excitedly.

"Hum your right. We'd better be sure to watch—" Gearbox looked down to find the little sparkling already taking off towards the door.

"Hang on! I got him!" Razorgear jumped off the couch and slid in front of the sparkling just in time to stop him from exiting the open door.

"Quuirii?" Lutrex looked up at Razorgear confused as to why he had stopped him.

"Uh uh! Can't go wandering off by yourself lil bro." Razorgear bent down and shook his finger.

Lutrex however was not deterred as he instead decided to jump onto Razorgear's foot.

"Huh h-hey what are you doing now?" Razorgear looked down at the silly sparkling who seemed content to sit happily on his foot, clinging to his leg armor.

"Quiirreep!" Lutrex replied bouncing up and down for a moment trying to indicate something.

"Hah! Bring him back over here Razor." Ironcrusher laughed.

"Ohhh I get it… Hang on lil buddy!" Razorgear grinned and lifted the foot Lutrex sat on and took a long stride.

The sparkling squealed in excitement as each step Razor took lifted him through the air much like an Earthen amusement park ride.

"Quiirrreeeee!" Clank

"Quiirrreeeee!" Clank

Much to the little one's disappointment the ride stopped abruptly when Razorgear stopped. A sudden transmission sounded from all three of the adult mechs' communicators.

"This is Tungsten. Bladewing and I just finished checking the route to the next dig site. I need Razorgear and Ironcrusher out here getting the site packed. Where the heck are they?" the old mech sounded slightly miffed the others hadn't been doing the job already.

"They have been with me Tungsten. I'll send them to it." Gearbox explained over the communications.

Lutrex tilted his head to the side, sensing the others were communicating but he was unable to hear what they were saying since he lacked access to the frequency. Being of such a young age his systems weren't quite ready to handle using a communication system.

"Humph. I see. Well they better get their afts in gear now; otherwise we won't make it there by the end of this solar cycle. Tungsten out."

"They were playing with the sparkling again." Bladewing's sigh could be heard over the transmission before the gruff mech ended it abruptly.

"Well you heard him you two. I think it best we all get back to work." Gearbox went to bend down and pick up Lutrex.

"Aww nuts n bolts." Razorgear sighed, but nodded. Ironcrusher got up as well.

"Can the little guy come with us?" Razorgear asked as he followed Ironcrusher out the Rec room door.

"I don't know Razor…" Ironcrusher trailed off unsure.

"I don't see why he can't. A curious mind such as his would enjoy soaking up a new environment. _Howeve_r…" Gearbox paused, his voice becoming stern. "If we have him out there amongst the gear you must be extremely careful around him. He's still very small."

The two other mechs nodded at Gearbox.

"Not to mention it better not impede your jobs. I'm still paying you for your work you know." Gearbox pointed out but in good nature.

They had all worked together so long and become accustomed to each other's presence that sometimes it was easy to forget that they were after all still working a job. Gearbox would admit he wouldn't trade this group of mechs for anyone else.

"Sounds good to me! Little bro you get to see what your big bro can do hah!" Razorgear flexed his arms enthusiastically at which Lutrex just tilted his head to the side.

"Heh, come on you show off!" Ironcrusher grabbed his arm and hauled him out the door.

Gearbox walked behind the other two with Lutrex in his arms. They soon made their way to the front entrance of the base; all the while an excited Lutrex scanned and took in all the new sounds and sights around him. Walking through the final door Gearbox followed the others into what would soon become an exciting new world for Lutrex.

**To Be Continued...**


End file.
